AUGUSTA, Maine — Mainers go to the polls on Tuesday with the chance to decide on the future of the Central Maine Power Co. corridor project through western Maine, a constitutional amendment on the “right to food,” a bond question and a range of local elections.
It is the second general election held under pandemic conditions in Maine, although turnout is expected to be considerably lower than last November’s presidential election. Widespread vaccinations have allowed cities and towns to switch back to some pre-coronavirus voting procedures, but some precautions will still be in place.
More than 60 percent of voters cast absentee ballots during last year’s election as officials made a strong push for the voting method amid the pandemic. Absentee voters, about 96,000 of whom had returned ballots as of Monday, may represent a smaller share of the electorate this year in part due to high vaccination rates, but turnout is difficult to predict in an off-year election. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ office is not providing a turnout estimate this year.
Polling stations are required to be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, although they open earlier in some municipalities, including Bangor and Portland. If there are long lines at the polls, voters are entitled to cast their ballots so long as they were in line by 8 p.m.
Face coverings are not required at polling places, but municipalities are encouraging them. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend indoor mask-wearing in every Maine county due to widespread community transmission of COVID-19. The state’s daily caseload is higher now than it was at the time of last year’s election.
Despite the prevalence of the virus, this year’s election will look much like any other, with some municipalities seeing minor changes as lower expected turnout compared to a presidential election year allow for greater flexibility. In Bangor, all voters will enter the Cross Insurance Center through the southwest entrance, unlike last year when voters went to different entrances based on their last name in order to prevent crowding.
There will not be capacity limits at the Bangor polls this year, but voters will still be asked to physically distance from one another, City Clerk Lisa Goodwin said. The city had fewer issues recruiting poll workers this year, Goodwin said, although she said several had canceled on Monday, forcing her office to scramble at the last minute.
She asked voters to “have patience” with those working the polls if they are forced to wait.
“The people that are working are doing the best they can,” Goodwin said.
In other parts of the state, voters will cast their ballots in different places than they were last year. A building owned by the Tarratine Tribe replaced the Crosby Center as the voting station in downtown Belfast after the latter was the site of an event this summer where hosts sowed doubt about the validity of the 2020 presidential election.
In Augusta, Ward 1 voters will be back to voting at the Buker Community Center, which has been the local polling station in the past, rather than the Augusta Armory, which the city used last year to increase social distancing. The city’s other three polling locations remain the same as they were in 2020. All Maine voters can look up their polling places online using the state’s voter information service.
Voters across the state who requested absentee ballots must also return them by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Absentee ballots must be returned to town halls, not polling stations, except in places where the polling station is also the town hall. Most municipalities now also have ballot drop boxes.