MAINE, USA — On Tuesday, Mainers are encouraged to get ready to vote this November with National Voter Registration Day.
Maine voters can register on the same day through Election Day on Nov. 5 for in-person voting, although the lines may be shorter if more people register before the big day.
According to a news release from the Maine Department of the Secretary of State, the state has recently seen an increasing number of voter registrations, including registrations with Maine's new online voter registration tool at maine.gov/vote.
Local officials, like Portland's elections administrator Paige Marcello, said they are encouraging Mainers to take advantage of that online portal to help make the voting process go more smoothly on Election Day. So far, Maine's largest city has more than 51,000 registered voters, and more registrations have been filed this week.
Who can register to vote?
Voters must be Maine residents, U.S. citizens, and at least 16 years old. Only Mainers 18-years-old and older on Election Day will be able to cast ballots. Current or former incarceration status does not disqualify any Mainer from voter registration or casting a ballot, and currently incarcerated individuals can register to vote in the Maine municipality where residency was established before incarceration.
How do I register to vote?
Mainers can register to vote online through the state's new voter registration tool by filling out a voter registration card at their town office or city hall, through a motor vehicle branch, most state and federal social service agencies, or at various voter registration drives.
To download and print Maine's voter registration application, click here. Voter registration applications can also be mailed to you through your town clerk. Completed applications can be turned in by hand or mailed to your town office or city hall.
Click here for examples of valid proof of identification required to register to vote under "How do I register to vote?"
Deadline to register to vote
Maine residents may register to vote until Election Day and cast their ballots the same day. However, online voter registration and by-mail registration are only available through Oct. 15. Automatic voter registration through Bureau of Motor Vehicle transactions is available through Oct. 29.
After Oct. 29, voter registration must be done in person.
How do I know if I've already registered to vote?
Maine voters can contact their town or city clerk to ask if they are registered to vote or to verify information. Contact information can be found here.
Maine does not currently have a voter registration lookup tool.
Where do I fill out a ballot?
Polling locations can be found by using the Maine Voter Information Lookup Service or by calling your town office or city hall. Poll locations open between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Election Day and remain open until 8 p.m.
Absentee ballots may be requested here. Applications must be filled out to receive a ballot, then delivered back to your municipal clerk or the Secretary of State, Division of Elections if you are a Uniformed Service or Overseas voter.
Absentee ballots can be requested three months before Election Day and until the Thursday before the election. Voters are advised to request absentee ballots early.
For more information on absentee voting, click here.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, said Tuesday morning that there is a way voters can track their mail-in absentee ballots so they can check when their ballot request has been accepted and see when their ballot has been returned and accepted or rejected by their local clerk.
“And on Election Day, if [voters] wake up and they can see in the system that the clerk didn’t receive their ballot, of course they can go [to the polls] on Election Day and cast a ballot. They just need to let the clerk know, ‘Hey, I sent in that absentee ballot, you don’t have it yet, so I'd like to spoil that ballot and cast a ballot today,'" she explained.
Suspicious packages were sent to election officials in at least six states on Monday, but there were no reports that any of the packages contained hazardous material, the Associated Press reported. Bellows on Tuesday reminded Mainers it's wrong to disrupt an election in any way.
“That is unacceptable, and it's really, absolutely wrong when anyone threatens an election official or tries to disrupt the elections in any way, so take a deep breath," the secretary of state said. "Maybe your ballot got lost in the mail and you're anxious about it; maybe you’re wondering when the ballots are going to come out. Please, let's do the Maine way: be respectful, be kind.”