Polling places will open across the state Tuesday morning as voters get their chance to choose candidates for governor, U.S. House of Representatives and county and local offices.
Communities in central Maine open their polls at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m., depending on the town. Polls close statewide at 8 p.m.
Live statewide and central Maine results will be posted at centralmaine.com as the votes are counted, starting as soon as the polls close Tuesday evening.
Richmond has had 230 voters so far — the town clerk said there was a line out the door at 8 am when polls opened. @centralmenews pic.twitter.com/smI90p2jJj
— Emily Duggan (@emilyduggannews) November 8, 2022
To find out where your polling place is, call your town office or enter your address on the state’s ballot lookup page. The page also shows voters who their elected officials are and what will be on their state ballots. Individual communities post sample local ballots online that show the city and town races and ballot questions.
Voters who want to learn more about their candidates or the ballot questions can find information on Central Maine’s Election 2022 page.
Any Maine residents 18 or older can still register to vote in person, either at city and town halls or at polling places on Tuesday. While voters are not required to show photo identification to cast their ballots, anyone registering to vote the first time in Maine needs to provide proof that they are eligible residents, such as a driver’s license, student ID, or a utility bill or paycheck stub.
A total of 251,788 Mainers took out absentee ballots and 224,674 of them submitted ballots as of Monday afternoon. Voters who have absentee ballots can still submit them at their town offices or in a secure ballot drop boxes before 8 p.m. tonight. Or, they can hold onto the ballot and just vote in person instead.
Voters in possession of an absentee ballot who want to ensure that it gets counted should drop it off at the local town office or deposit it in a secure ballot drop box, if available, by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the Maine Secretary of State’s office.
People enter and exit the polls at Richmond High School on Tuesday as voters made decisions in the November election. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal
Or, they can hold onto the ballot and just vote in person on Tuesday instead.
Don’t mail a ballot at this point. The U.S. Post Office only guarantees delivery of absentee ballots if they are mailed at least a week before the election. And that window has already passed.
Incumbent Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, is running for re-election against former two-term Republican Gov. Paul LePage and independent Sam Hunkler, a retired Beals physician and political newcomer. Ranked-choice voting will not be used in this election.
U.S Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat, is seeking her eighth two-year term representing Congressional District 1 and running against Republican Ed Thelander, a former Navy Seal and political newcomer.
In the northern half of the state, U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat, is seeking reelection in the 2nd Congressional District and facing challenges from Republican Bruce Poliquin, who was unseated by Golden in 2018 in the nation’s first ranked-choice election for Congress, and independent Tiffany Bond.
Farmingdale Town Clerk Natalie Jackson, right, and Deputy Clerk Karen LaPlante tape together the community’s last polling station Monday at the Town Office at 289 Maine Ave. Jackson and LaPlante say based on the absentee ballots already filed, they expect strong voter turnout Tuesday and think voting should go smoothly at the renovated Town Office. Polls open for Farmingdale voters at 8 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. For a list of local polling times and locations, see page B6. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal
All 186 seats in the Legislature also are up for grabs Tuesday. Democrats currently control both chambers, with 22 of 35 seats in the Senate and 76 of the 151 seats in the House. The party that controls the Legislature will set the policy agenda and choose constitutional offices, including the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, who oversees state elections.
For more information about voting in Maine, go to the Secretary of State’s voter information page.
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