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Mainers went to the polls this morning to choose a new governor for the first time in eight years, as well as casting ballots that could help decide which party controls the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Nearly 245,000 Mainers voted early this year, either by mail or in person, as of Oct. 28, according to data from the Maine secretary of state’s office. Oct. 29 was the last day to request an absentee ballot or vote in the presence of a clerk.
While there are no statewide initiatives on the ballot this year, a number of communities will vote on whether to add some level of rent control for mobile home parks. In at least seven municipalities, voters will decide whether they want to temporarily ban data center construction, joining a growing list of municipalities preemptively blocking the controversial projects. School mergers, withdrawals and closures are also on the ballot in several towns, and voters in Penobscot County will decide whether to authorize relocating the jail from Bangor to a site outside the county seat, a question that has prompted a broader debate about prisoners’ medical and behavioral health needs. In Franklin County, voters will decide whether to change the treasurer from an elected post to a commissioner-appointed position.
Both parties “say the same general things are important,” Hunter said, but he leans Democratic and felt that this year’s Democratic candidates emphasized affordability and access to housing, which are important issues to him.
BAR HARBOR — Polls are set to open at 8 a.m. in Bar Harbor on an unseasonably warm Tuesday. Voters in Bar Harbor and other Mount Desert Island towns, along with Trenton, will consider a referendum question about whether the school system should be reorganized into a Regional School Unit, one of a number of communities around the state voting on whether to merge or close their schools.
