MAINE, USA — The number of registered voters in Maine spiked after President Joe Biden announced his exit from the 2024 presidential race for re-election in July.
The week before Biden's announcement, 757 people registered to vote, according to data from the Maine Department of the Secretary of State. The same week the president made the announcement, 1,235 state residents signed up to vote. The following week, 1,114 people registered to vote.
In the whole month of July, 3,793 registered to vote. It was the most since November 2023 when 5,168 people registered.
"Numbers like these aren’t necessarily self-explanatory," University of Southern Maine political science professor Ronald Schmidt, PhD, said. "I think what we're seeing—both in Maine and in the country as a whole—is an energized Democratic or Democratic-leaning electorate."
Schmidt said he believes there was a lot of anxiety around Biden's candidacy. After he dropped out and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, he said there was a renewed excitement for the ticket.
"The speed in which the Democrats, as a party, has coalesced behind the vice president as a candidate has been a big boost in the energy of Democratic voters," he added.
On the other hand, Schmidt said more people could be registering to support former President Donald Trump amid a strengthening Democratic Party.
"At this point, Republican energy definitely seems more flat than Democratic energy," Schmidt told NEWS CENTER Maine. "On Election Day, that can be decisive."
The Maine Department of Secretary of State said voter registration numbers aren't broken down by party or any other identifier because of limitations in current technologies.