General Election is two months away; Secretary of State’s Office provides update on Maine election processes

AUGUSTA, MAINE – Today September 4, marks just 60 days until the General Election on November 3. The Office of the Secretary of State today provided an update about Maine’s election processes for this stage of the election cycle.

Key dates to know:

• September 15 - National Voter Registration Day
• September 19 (45 days before Election Day) - Deadline to send UOCAVA ballots to already pending requests
• October 4 (30 days before Election Day) - In-person, no-excuse absentee voting period begins (goes through close of business in a voter's town on Thurs., October 29)
• October 20 - Election Hero Day
• October 27 - Mock Election Day
• October 29 - Last day to request a no-excuse absentee ballot
• Registration deadlines:
  • In person: Close of the polls on Election Day.
  • Registering by mail or 3rd person: Received by the voter’s town or city by close of business 21 days before Election Day. (October 13) 
  • Registering online: 5 PM on the 21st day before Election Day. (October 13)
  • Registration through the BMV: On the 7th day before Election Day. (October 27)
  • UOCAVA voters in Title 21-A section 777-A by mail or electronically: By Noon the day before Election Day (November 2)
• Absentee ballots:
  • Requesting an absentee ballot: Absentee ballots, including accessible ballots and ballots for uniformed and overseas voters, may be requested online at maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/AbsenteeBallot/index.pl. Voters may also contact their town hall to request a ballot or submit a paper application for an absentee ballot, and the request must be received at least three business days before Election Day (October 29), unless special circumstances exist.
  • Returning an absentee ballot: Only ballots received by 8 p.m. on Election Day are counted, regardless of postmark. In many towns and cities, voters have the option of returning an absentee ballot to a secured drop box. Maine voters can track the process of their ballot at: apps.web.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/AbsenteeBallot/ballot_status.pl.

Absentee ballot processing

Absentee ballots may be processed up to seven days before Election Day, with notice provided to the Secretary of State and political parties 30 days before Election Day. A list of municipalities which may process ballots early will be available at maine.gov/sos/elections-voting/upcoming-elections at least one week prior to the start of early processing. Absentee ballot processing is a public process which may be observed by partisan and nonpartisan observers. Early processing may happen between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., except when an inspection is requested. At such times, processing may not begin until the inspection period has concluded. Requests for inspection of absentee ballot applications and envelopes must be submitted in writing by 4 p.m. the day before each day of early processing. If such a request is made, the ballot applications and envelopes will be available an hour before early processing is set to begin.

During absentee ballot processing, teams of two work in stages. First, the absentee voter list is marked, then the ballots and envelopes separated, and only when a sufficient quantity of ballots has amassed, are the ballots unfolded and placed into the tabulator or ballot box. Ballots and envelopes are kept secure after each day of early processing. Absentee ballots are not counted until after 8 p.m. on Election Day, just as all other ballots. Many municipalities will conduct absentee ballot processing on Election Day itself, under the same procedures. 

Ranked-Choice Voting

With declared write-in candidates in both the U.S. Senate and the Congressional District 2 races, those races will be conducted by ranked choice. The ballots will include the names of the nominees as well as a blank write-in line with columns to rank candidate preferences. The list of declared write-in candidates is posted on the Secretary of State website and will be posted in polling locations. 

Ranked-choice voting, sometimes called "instant run-off voting," allows voters to choose their candidate(s) in order of preference, by marking candidates as their first, second and/or third choice. Voters may rank as many or as few candidates as they choose. 

In ranked-choice races, to win the race outright, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the first-choice votes as counted on Election Day. If no candidate receives 50% plus one vote of the total ballots cast in a particular race, then the tabulation will proceed to Augusta for the ranked-choice tabulation. The votes are tabulated in rounds, with the lowest-ranked candidates eliminated in each round until a remaining candidate receives a majority of the votes (more than 50%). The candidate who is determined to have received the majority of the votes (more than 50%) in the final round is declared the winner. Resources about ranked-choice voting can be found in the Office of the Secretary of State’s website, including: 

Voting for a write-in candidate:

In Maine, a write-in candidate must follow the formal process to become a “declared write-in candidate.” The deadline was Tuesday, August 25. Names other than that of a declared write-in candidate written on write-in line(s) will not be tallied and will be recorded as blanks. That does not disqualify the entire ballot and is included in the total ballots cast. During ranked-choice tabulations, the next choice of a voter whose higher ranked-choice has been eliminated or who recorded a blank vote would be used. Two recorded blanks in a row will exhaust the ballot.

Vote reporting

Election Night results are reported by the municipalities themselves. In ranked-choice voting races, municipalities report the results of first-choice votes for the candidates whose names are printed on the ballot, declared write-in candidates, and total ballots cast. Ballots, including absentee ballots, must begin to be counted as soon as polls close on Election Night at 8 p.m., and municipalities report Election Night results at the voting places on Election Night. 

After Election Day concludes, the municipal clerks in each town and city in Maine have two days to submit election results to the Secretary of State, per Maine law. In ranked-choice voting races, if no candidate appears to have achieved more than 50% of the first-choice votes, the race will proceed to a ranked-choice tabulation. The deadline for certification of official results by the Office of Secretary of State is 20 days following the election.

Recounts

Maine statute Title 21-A, §737-A lays out a specific plan and process for votes to be recounted. 

• In races that are not ranked-choice, any candidate other than the apparent winner who desires a recount must file with the Secretary of State a written request for a recount within 5 business days after the election. 
• In ranked-choice races, only a candidate who received one of the top 3 rankings at the end of the penultimate round of ranked‑choice counting may request a recount. 

Conduct in and around polling locations

Prohibition on influence and advertising in and around voting places

So that voters can cast their ballots freely, Maine law prohibits influence and advertising in and around voting places both during the absentee voting period and on Election Day. The display or distribution of any advertising material (including signs) intended to influence a voter's decision regarding a candidate or question on the ballot for that election are prohibited during the hours when the clerk's office is open and may be conducting absentee voting. This prohibition covers both the inside of the clerk’s office and all public property within 250 feet of the entrance to the building in which the clerk’s office is located. Additionally, blocking a voter’s access to an absentee ballot drop box at any time is prohibited.

On Election Day, no one may influence (or attempt to influence) another person’s decision regarding a candidate for an office or a question that is on the ballot for the election that day within the voting place or within 250 feet of the entrance to the voting place. Additionally, a person may not display advertising material; operate an advertising medium, including a sound amplification device; or display or distribute campaign literature, posters, palm cards, buttons, badges, stickers, or apparel containing a candidate's name or otherwise intending to influence the opinion of any voter regarding a candidate for an office or question that is on the ballot for the election that day in that same zone. These restrictions do not apply to advertising material on vehicles traveling to or from the voting place for the sole purposes of voting and a voter (who is in the voting place for voting) may wear a campaign button that is no bigger than three inches around.

Given the above restrictions, election workers, poll watchers, signature gatherers, and others in attendance at the polls for purposes other than voting may be removed by the Warden if they are wearing apparel that names candidates or explicitly or implicitly expresses support of or opposition to a candidate or issue on the ballot that year.

Voters are also subject to these restrictions, and an election administrator may ask a voter to remove a hat or cover up a t-shirt, for example. Anyone, including a voter, who is asked to remove apparel or other advertising or who is asked to exit a voting place by a Warden must do so, as the Warden is the presiding officer at the voting place.

Candidates are also subject to the above Election Day restrictions, except that a candidate or no more than one representative of a candidate may greet voters at the voting place, subject to various restrictions.

Photography or filming in/near polling places

Photography and videography are allowed in and near polling places as long as the person recording remains outside the guardrail and isn’t conducting video recording closer than 15 feet from a voter, including when the voter is signing a petition after voting. Voted ballots are not public records and voters have the right to a secret ballot; photographs and video of ballots are not allowed. The exception to this is ballot selfies, which are allowed.

Media interviews in/near polling places

When conducting interviews inside polling places, or on public property within 250 feet of the entrance to the polling place, journalists should be careful not to ask interviewees questions where the answer may violate restrictions on political activities in those areas. Within those areas, instruction on how to vote (other than to provide assistance to a voter who is unable to read or mark their ballot themselves) and influence regarding who or what to vote for are not allowed. The Warden may have someone removed from the polling place for violating this section.

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