Hotly contested races, issues fueling heavy voter turnout across Maine

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http://www.pressherald.com/2014/11/04/early-voting-heavy-in-some-maine-locations/

The last few political ads are airing, campaign workers are waving signs at polling places and Mainers are heading into voting booths Tuesday to settle hard-fought campaigns for governor, senator, congressional representatives and state offices.

Early turnout was reported to be heavy, with nearly 400 casting ballots in Buxton and voters stood in line at Portland’s Reiche School, where election officials ran out of their “I Voted” stickers before 9 a.m., but they were restocked later in the morning. In Biddeford, where polling places were consolidated from three to one, the Biddeford High School parking lots were full all morning and some voters complained about not being able to park closer to the school.

In midcoast Maine, voters had to search out polling locations when the traditional spots were knocked off line by Sunday’s wind and snowstorm. Five towns – Brooklin, Camden, Mount Desert Island, Rockland and Swans Island – had to change polling places because of power failures.

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Statewide, the Maine Secretary of State’s Office said about 5.5 percent of the nearly 964,000 eligible voters cast ballots before Tuesday, slightly ahead of the early voting pace in 2010. Secretary of State Matt Dunlap said he expects the final turnout to be about 53 to 57 percent of eligible voters, although he said it could be higher in the 2nd Congressional District, where a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is open.

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