The secretary of state's office said the biggest remaining bloc of uncounted votes was from more than 4,000 overseas absentee voters. Pictured: Prices for cannabis concentrates are on display at the Colfax Pot Shop, a recreational marijuana shop located in Denver. (Vince Chandler, The Denver Post)

These voters may be the missing link to call Maine marijuana measure

PORTLAND, Maine — A larger-than-expected number of overseas absentee ballots will play a big role in deciding whether Maine marijuana becomes legal.

The final results in the close race still hadn’t been tabulated on Thursday. The secretary of state’s office said the biggest remaining bloc of uncounted votes was from more than 4,000 overseas absentee voters.

Unlike other absentee ballots, the overseas ballots are sent straight to Augusta. The 4,066 overseas absentee ballots that were deemed valid were still being counted Thursday.

There were also a couple of small towns that hadn’t reported in.

Voters cast ballots on a referendum to potentially legalize recreational marijuana use on Tuesday. Results so far show voters for the proposal holding an edge of less than 1 percent with more than 95 percent of votes counted.