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In less than two weeks, our nation will determine who our next president will be, and our state will determine who will represent us in Congress and at the State House. Just like many other states around our country, voting has begun here in Maine. Here are some important things to keep in mind about early voting:
- In Maine, any registered voter can request an absentee ballot; no reason is required.
- The Secretary of State’s office has created an online tool to help voters track the status of their absentee ballot request.
- If you are voting absentee, place your ballot in the mail to your municipality no later than October 26 to help ensure it is received in time.
- All ballots must be in by 8:00 pm on Election Day in order to be counted. Late ballots will not be considered. If you are concerned about getting your ballot in, many municipalities have ballot drop off boxes, or will accept your ballot during normal business hours.
- Check with your municipality to see if you can walk into your town hall and vote via absentee ballot in-person. If this is permissible in your community, voters will have until close of business on Thursday, October 29 to take advantage of this option. After this date, you will likely need to vote in-person on Election Day.
As experienced campaign professionals, the League’s Governmental Affairs teams recommends turning in your absentee ballots now if you want to see a reduction in political mail, phone calls, and texts. Remember, how you vote is secret, but whether you vote or not is a public record. Smart campaigns will monitor who has requested absentee ballots and continue to message those people until the ballot is returned. Once returned, a frugal campaign will redirect resources spent contacting you to someone else.
It also is important to remember that Maine has same day voter registration. If you or someone you know isn’t registered to vote yet, there is still time! A guide to voting absentee and registering to vote is posted on the League’s website on the Election 2020 tab.
Because we depend on elected officials help to advance or protect the credit union movement, the League strongly believes in recognizing those candidates who have stood with us. Therefore, the League makes campaign endorsements to candidates that meet our endorsement policy. This year the League has offered 114 endorsements for the Maine Legislature and 3 endorsements to candidates running for Congress.
Please feel free to reach out to the League’s Governmental Affairs team with any questions or concerns regarding the upcoming election. Your decision to vote and who to support is entirely your own, our goal at the League is to provide you information from a Maine credit union perspective. We strongly encourage all credit union employees and members to get out and vote!