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AARP AARP States Maine Voters

How to Vote in Maine’s 2024 Elections

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Important dates and election information

Key dates

  • Presidential primary: Tuesday, March 5
  • State primary: Tuesday, June 11
  • General election: Tuesday, Nov. 5

Voting at a glance

  • Absentee voting: All registered voters can request a no-excuse absentee ballot.
  • Voting in person on Election Day: Polls open at 6 to 10 a.m., depending on the location, and close at 8 p.m. Find your polling place using the state’s Voter Information Lookup Service
  • Maine uses ranked-choice voting for all state-level primary elections, which allows voters to choose their candidates in order of preference by marking candidates as their first, second, third and subsequent choices. With ranked-choice voting, votes are tabulated in rounds, and a candidate must get more than 50 percent of the votes to win.

Voting in Maine

What to know about recent voting changes

Recent election decisions may change how you vote in the 2024 elections:

  • New for 2024, Maine will use a semi-open primary system. If you’re affiliated with a specific party, you may only vote in that party’s primary. If you’re registered as “unenrolled” (no party choice), you can vote in one party’s primary of your choice. This applies to both presidential and state primaries.
  • The Maine Republican Party won’t recognize ranked-choice voting in this year’s presidential primary. Per state law, Republican primary ballots will still have a ranked-choice voting structure, allowing voters to rank candidates in their order of preference. But the Republican party will only recognize the first round of results.

Voter registration

To register to vote, you must provide proof of residence and an approved form of identification, such as a driver’s license, state ID, valid U.S. passport, military ID, ID issued by a federally recognized Indian tribe, certified birth certificate or a signed Social Security card. View the full list of acceptable identification options on the secretary of state’s website. Options for registering are:

Deliver your completed application in person or by mail to your municipal clerk’s office or city hall, or mail it to the state’s elections office at 101 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0101. By-mail and online applications must be received by Tuesday, Feb. 13, for the presidential primary and by Tuesday, May 21, for the state primary.

Registering to vote on Election Day

You may register to vote in person on Election Day at your polling place. You’ll be asked to show an acceptable form of identification, such as a current driver’s license, U.S. passport or utility bill that confirms your name and address. The deadline for registering to vote in person is 8 p.m. (when polls close) on Election Day.

How to vote in Maine’s primary

If you’re affiliated with a specific party, you may only vote in that party’s primary. If you’re registered without a party affiliation, you can vote in one party’s primary of your choice. This applies to both presidential and state primaries.

How Maine’s ranked-choice voting works

In 2018, Maine began implementing a ranked-choice voting system for all state-level primary elections, as well as for general elections for federal offices only. Ranked-choice voting allows voters to choose their candidates in order of preference by marking candidates as their first, second, third and subsequent choices. With ranked-choice voting, a candidate must get more than 50 percent of the votes to win. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent, the last-place candidate is eliminated, and that candidate’s votes are redistributed to their voters’ second choices. The votes are tabulated in rounds, until there are only two candidates left. The candidate who receives more than 50 percent of the votes in the final round is declared the winner. Learn more about how ranked-choice voting works on the secretary of state’s website.

This year, the Maine Republican Party announced it won’t recognize ranked-choice voting in the presidential primary. Per state law, Republican primary ballots will still have a ranked-choice voting structure, allowing voters to rank candidates in their order of preference. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the first rankings, the secretary of state will continue to conduct ranked-choice voting tabulation and provide the results to the parties. But the secretary of state says it’s up to each party to determine how the results are used to select their delegates for national conventions, and the Republican party declared it will only recognize first-round results.

Ways to vote

Requesting an absentee ballot 

Any registered voter can request an absentee ballot, starting three months before an election and up until the third business day prior to an election. Request an absentee ballot online, by mail or in person.

An immediate family member can request and receive an application or ballot on your behalf by completing a written absentee ballot application. You can designate a nonfamily member to pick up and deliver your ballot, provided you do so in writing and either a notary public, municipal clerk, clerk of courts or two other people serve as witnesses.
By-mail absentee ballots begin going out approximately 30 days before Election Day. If you have any concerns about receiving your ballot, contact your municipal clerk.

Military and overseas voters can request a ballot by filling out the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) or by using the state’s online absentee ballot request portal. For more information on military and overseas voting, visit the secretary of state’s website.

Returning your absentee ballot

Election officials must receive completed ballots by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

  • By mail: Send your completed ballot to your municipal clerk’s office. State officials recommend mailing your ballot at least seven days before Election Day.

Use the state’s absentee ballot request portal to track the status of your absentee ballot.

Voting in person before Election Day 

You can vote early and in person by casting an absentee ballot at your municipal clerk’s office. In-person absentee ballots become available at least 30 days before each election day and can be cast until 5 p.m. on the Thursday before Election Day.

Voting at the polls on Election Day

Polls open at 6 to 10 a.m., depending on the location, and close at 8 p.m. Find your polling place using the state’s Voter Information Lookup Service.

Voter ID requirements on Election Day

You don’t need to provide an ID if you’re registered to vote.

If you are registering to vote at the polls on Election Day and you don’t have an approved ID, you’ll be allowed to cast a “challenged ballot.” This will be counted as a regular ballot, but if a race is close enough that challenged ballots affect the outcome, the state’s Supreme Judicial Court will decide whether challenged ballots are valid.

Voting with a disability

Each polling place is equipped with an Accessible Voting System (AVS) for voters with disabilities. Voters who need assistance filling in their ballot can receive help from either an election official or a person of their choice, as long as that person is not an employer or union official. Find more information at the secretary of state’s website.

If voting absentee, voters can use the state’s absentee ballot request portal to request an accessible electronic ballot. This can be completed at home using screen-reader technology. The ballot is intended for voters with disabilities that make it difficult to fill out a ballot, including vision impairment or learning disabilities. Accessible electronic ballots are received and returned by email. Find more information about how to request an accessible electronic ballot on the secretary of state’s website.

More information about candidates and key races

Key races:

  • U.S. President
  • U.S. Senate: one seat
  • U.S. House: two seats
  • State House: 151 seats 
  • State Senate: 35 seats

Sample ballots will be available at the secretary of state’s website closer to Election Day.

Editor’s note: This guide was updated on Feb. 14, 2024, with new information about voting in the 2024 presidential primary.

Grace Dickinson is a writer for aarp.org who covers federal and state policy. She previously wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her work has also appeared on sites including HuffPost and Eater.

Also of Interest:

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