Good morning from Augusta. It’s Election Day. Here’s your soundtrack and here’s the Bangor Daily News’ election results page, where you can follow races down to the local level.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “This is a strange year and we need to be ready for anything,” said Secretary of State Matt Dunlap on an enhanced effort to make sure clerks have the legal and public safety resources to handle disturbances at the polls. “Odds are we won’t even have to use it.”
What we are watching today
Election Day is finally here. After almost a year and a half of electioneering and hundreds of millions of dollars spent, candidates will be out in the state making one final push for voters. If you have an absentee ballot that has not been returned, you can still drop it off until 8 p.m. today at your local town office or voting station. If you are planning on voting in-person today, here is what you need to know — and dress warmly.
Maine saw record levels of absentee voting. What will turnout on Election Day look like? Nearly 500,000 Maine voters successfully cast their ballots as of Monday afternoon, according to state data, accounting nearly two-thirds of 2016 turnout. Maine has always been among the states with highest voter turnout, but in-person turnout today could blow through previous records for voter participation with reports of big crowds at the polls this morning.
Are there voting problems in this pandemic-transformed election? It could look like your polling location has a longer line than usual, but remember that distancing measures may just create the appearance of a hold up. But if the line seems to be moving abnormally slow, or you are seeing other problems with voting, tell your local poll worker. Also, let us — and our partner, ProPublica’s Electionland — know about it. We will work to verify and report what happened.
What can we learn from early unofficial results? Unlike those in many other states, Maine cities and towns are generally planning to report their results within a few hours of polls closing at 8 p.m. That means we could start to get early answers about the state’s most competitive races — including the U.S. Senate contest with Republican Sen. Susan Collins, House Speaker Sara Gideon, D-Freeport, and independents Lisa Savage and Max Linn — as well as the presidential race in the 2nd Congressional District.
In the Senate race, we will be looking closely at the early margin between Gideon and Collins, since ranked-choice voting is likely to come into play and benefit the Democratic challenger, according to polling in the race. More so than Gideon, Collins needs to pull out to an early lead, though she has trailed in each public poll in 2020. Gideon has a 65 percent chance of winning tonight’s election, according to our partners at Decision Desk HQ.
To help interpret early town-by-town results, we put together a map of presidential results by town from 2012 and 2016. Comparing tonight’s results — reported by municipalities directly to the BDN and other news outlets — with previous years can help provide a rough early picture of where election night might be headed.
The Maine top 3, non-election edition
— “COVID-19 hospitalizations rising more slowly than during Maine’s 1st virus surge,” Charles Eichacker, Bangor Daily News: “Even if hospitals have become more adept at treating COVID-19, health experts are renewing their calls for strict adherence to measures that can prevent the disease from spreading to more vulnerable individuals, including wearing face masks, socially distancing and avoiding gatherings — particularly those in poorly ventilated, indoor spaces. They are also urging people to get the flu shot, to limit how many people must seek treatment for coronavirus-like symptoms this winter.”
— “Calls for legal help up 20 percent from Maine renters facing eviction,” Nick Schroeder, BDN: “Mainers have been eligible for a patchwork of rent relief programs since the pandemic began. On Monday, the state reopened a program that would grant renters harmed by the pandemic up to $1,000 a month for rent payments in October and November, and December if funding allows. 14,000 Mainers have received rent relief since April, according to MaineHousing, the organization facilitating the program.”
— “Study shows Katahdin area’s unemployment rate is nearly 3 times that of Maine,” Alexander MacDougall, BDN: “While the unemployment rate in the Katahdin area is nearly three times higher than in the state of Maine as a whole, the percentage of people living in poverty remained consistent with the state and national averages — something the study attributes to low housing values and the high number of older retirees who may be receiving benefits.”
Final money figures in U.S. Senate race
Campaign contributions and outside spending in Maine’s U.S. Senate race have officially topped $200 million, according to federal data. Outside groups have spent at least $110 million on top of the $69 million raised by Gideon and $26 million raised by Collins as of a few weeks ago, records show.
Those totals include late pushes by both Republican and Democratic groups in the highly watched race. It may come down to the wire, but you can follow along with use after the polls close tonight.
Today’s Daily Brief was written by Michael Shepherd, Jessica Piper and Caitlin Andrews. If you’re reading this on the BDN’s website or were forwarded it, email clumm@bangordailynews.com (we’re setting up a new subscriber page soon) to subscribe to it via email.
To reach us, do not reply directly to this newsletter, but contact the political team at mshepherd@bangordailynews.com, candrews@bangordailynews.com or jpiper@bangordailynews.com.
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