MAINE, Maine — Maine residents have multiple opportunities to register to vote ahead of November's election. You can do so in-person at your local clerk's office, at your local polling place on election day itself, or by using the new online platform.
This is the first time the state has utilized the tool and the deadline to register to vote online, or update your status, is before midnight on Tuesday. If this is your first time registering, you must provide proof of residency and identification. You can access that platform by clicking here. Tuesday is also when municipal clerks must receive your registration if you sent it by mail.
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and South Portland City Clerk Jessica Hughes expect a surge in voter registration ahead of the deadline. According to data provided by the Secretary of State's Office, more than 20,000 people registered to vote or updated their registrations in September, and more than 7,000 residents used the online platform last week alone.
Bellows said last month's National Voter Registration Day saw the most registrations in a single day, but expects Tuesday's number to be bigger.
Local clerks, like Hughes, are pushing people to the online platform which helps her team handle other voting duties, like processing more than 100 absentee ballot requests per day in South Portland.
In her first election as the city's clerk, Hughes is noticing a lot of excitement and passion building ahead of Nov. 5, especially among residents who plan to vote in person three weeks from now. With the excitement, comes some anxiety, however.
A common issue Hughes hears from voters, she said, is they haven't received their absentee ballots by mail. She said it should take a week or two to get to your home, but if it's been a longer wait, she encourages people to reach out to their local clerk who can check in on the ballot's status.
If you miss Tuesday's deadline to register to vote online, you can still register in-person with your local clerk, or on election day when you go to vote. You can search for your local clerk by following this link.