Nov. 3 – A long line stretched from one side of Portland City Hall to the other on the final day of in-person absentee voting last week.
Halfway through the line, Chris Sessums had been waiting for half an hour, but said he didn’t mind.
“I’m really excited to see so many people coming out and participating,” the 58-year-old university administrator said. ‘It doesn’t bother me. We can only do this once every four years.’
Maine consistently has one of the highest voter turnout rates in the country and even had the highest voter turnout in the country in 2022, when 61.8% of its population of eligible citizens cast ballots. The national rate that year was 46.8%.
Participating in the democratic process seems ingrained in our nature. And Maine state and local election officials expect another big turnout on Election Day on Tuesday.
“Traditionally, Maine has led the nation in voter turnout, and I am hopeful that we will see another strong election,” said Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, citing the major interest in absentee voting.
In Portland and other communities, election officials say, that could mean waiting in lines or navigating extra traffic around polling places. But they say they are prepared and have not encountered any major problems or concerns since early voting began last month, despite strong interest statewide.
Election turnout is typically measured as a percentage of voting-age citizens, and Maine ranks at or near the top of all states, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, an independent bipartisan commission whose mission is to help improve the administration of elections. But calculated based on the number of active registered voters, Maine’s 2022 turnout was even higher: 73.3%.
The 2022 results in Maine were fueled in part by a high-stakes battle for the governorship, featuring incumbent Gov. Janet Mills and former Gov. Paul LePage. This year, the presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is undoubtedly the biggest factor driving people to the polls.
But election experts say there are also perennial reasons why Maine is among the states with the highest voter turnout. They include Maine’s history as a state with strong local control and municipal governments, a voting population that is slightly more educated than other places, and election laws that make it easier for people to cast their ballots.
THOUSANDS VOTED ABSENTEE
City Clerk Ashley Rand said there were voting lines at City Hall this past week. Nearly 37% of registered voters in Portland had requested absentee ballots or cast ballots in person as of Thursday afternoon.
Rand also expects long lines on Election Day and said the city is asking voters to be patient at their polling places.
“We have added more election workers to this election than normal at every polling place, so we are prepared,” she said.
As of Friday afternoon, 342,754 absentee ballots had been returned and accepted statewide, including 155,726 people who cast their ballots by voting early in person. That’s about a third of the state’s potential voters. Maine had about 955,285 active registered voters in June, the most recent total made available by the Secretary of State.
Interest in absentee voting was strongest among Democrats this fall, following a pattern established in recent election cycles. Of the requested absentee ballots, 42% were requested by Democrats, 27% by Republicans and 27% by unenrolled voters. The remaining requests come from third-party voters, including Green Independent, No Labels and Libertarian voters.
There have been no major problems with absentee ballots, but it is too late to count on the Postal Service to deliver ballots on time. Absentee voters who have not yet returned their ballots are advised to do so by placing them in a mailbox or hand-delivering them to the town hall before the election.
Voters can also use the state’s online tracking system to see if their ballot has been received and accepted by their county clerk. Voters whose ballots are not returned and accepted by their county clerk before Election Day have the option to go to the polls and request that their absentee ballot be canceled and that they be issued a new ballot.
WHY IS TURNOUT IN MAINE SO HIGH?
According to Bellows, Maine’s redistricting process has created competitive legislative districts, which can motivate voters to vote. “Voters recognize that their vote really matters and can determine outcomes at every level,” she said.
Election experts also point to factors dating back to Maine’s colonial roots. Fellow New England states, Vermont and New Hampshire, are not far behind Maine.
Colin Woodard, director of the Nationhood Lab at Salve Regina University and former staff writer for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, said Maine’s place at the top of the list of high-turnout states isn’t surprising because participation in the local governance is part of the elections. of New England’s ‘cultural DNA’.
This goes back to the early Puritan settlers who tried to set up their communities differently from the aristocracy they left behind in England. They established strong municipal governments that have continued to this day. Many communities in Maine still run on a town meeting format, where residents make important decisions by presenting their arguments and raising their hands.
“Today you look at Maine and other states in (New England) and they often have home rule and very powerful municipal governments and weak counties because of the importance of democratic, immediate participation in politics,” said Woodard, who is the author is from “American Nations”, a book about regionalism in the United States.
“That’s been important since the 17th century,” he said. “When you put all that together, it creates a kind of powerful participatory and civic push that you are expected to be involved in the politics of your city and that government is the vehicle through which citizens have power.”
That philosophy has translated into policies that have made it easier for residents to participate in elections, such as same-day voter registration.
And unlike other states in New England and other parts of the country, Maine fell into a massive economic depression after the Civil War, preventing new settlers from coming to the state during subsequent waves of immigration, Woodard said. “That kept the old New England model” in place here.
Michael McDonald, a political science professor at the University of Florida, said high-turnout states today are often the battleground states that candidates care about and where campaign activity drives people to the polls.
While Maine as a whole is reliably Democratic, the 2nd Congressional District is a swing district that draws national interest and campaign spending and translates into statewide advertising. “It’s still considered a battleground to some extent, so that can motivate individual voters,” McDonald said.
Also, states like Maine that offer same-day voter registrations typically have three to four percentage points higher turnout than states that don’t, McDonald said.
MAINE’S VOTERS FIND THE TIME
That Maine typically has high turnout is not surprising to Cheryl Pritchard, a Windham resident who cast her ballot at City Hall on Thursday.
“I think Mainers are very conscientious about this,” said Pritchard, 69. “They are hard workers and there is a lot of struggle.”
Pritchard, a Republican, cast her vote Thursday for Harris, a Democrat, in the presidential race. “I don’t always vote Republican. I vote for the person I think will most strengthen the legislature or the country.”
Lydia Hill, a 20-year-old student from Windham who is voting for Trump, said it is especially important for young people to vote.
“A lot of my friends say voting is too much work, but I think, ‘No. It’s important. It’s your right,'” she said after picking up a ballot Thursday. “I’m excited to make a difference.”
Windham Town Clerk Linda Morrell said this year’s presidential race has been a big draw for people to vote. As of Thursday afternoon, about 30% of the city’s 15,000 registered voters had returned their ballots or voted in person. The number of absentee ballots cast has already exceeded the final number for 2020, and Morrell expects a busy day on Tuesday.
“Windham likes to vote, so we usually have a good turnout at every election,” she said.
South Portland City Clerk Jessica Hughes said her city is also expecting a large turnout due to a mix of local, state and national issues.
“Some people are passionate about the referendums, both at the state level and at the local level,” she said. “Others want to make their voices heard in the presidential election. It’s kind of a mix of reasons (why people vote), but it’s exciting to see them all coming to the polls.”
Voters waiting in line at City Hall in Portland on Thursday cited both the presidential and local elections as the top reasons to draw them to the polls.
Alyssa Ashby, 25, prepared to vote for the first time. She said she wants women’s reproductive rights and the right to abortion to be preserved. She also cares about City Council races.
“I made sure to find time this year because there’s too much going on,” she said.
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