In-person absentee voting underway across the state
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 10, 2023
AUGUSTA — In-person, no-excuse absentee voting is underway in Maine’s towns and cities across the state for the Nov. 7, 2023 Referendum Election.
“There are many ways that Mainers can cast their ballot, depending on what works for them and their busy schedules,” said Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. “The ease and accessibility of no-excuse absentee voting for 30 days before an election is one of the reasons we’ve consistently been among the states with the highest turnout, including being first in the nation last November.”
Voters in Maine can request their absentee ballots up to three months before an election, so many voters who requested ballots early have already begun receiving, and returning, their absentee ballots.
As of Friday, October 6, there were 15,487 absentee ballots requested by Maine voters. 399 ballots had already been returned. The breakdown of requests by party enrollment is:
| Party Enrollment | Requests |
| Democratic | 8420 |
| Forward | 3 |
| Green Independent | 389 |
| Libertarian | 16 |
| No Labels | 46 |
| People’s | 2 |
| Republican | 3021 |
| Unenrolled | 3590 |
Absentee voter data will be posted on Tuesday and Friday afternoons on the Secretary of State’s website: https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/data/index.html. Starting October 30 it will be posted each weekday afternoon.
Voters may request ballots online at https://apps.web.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/AbsenteeBallot/index.pl or by contacting their town or city clerk. Contact information for municipal clerks is available at: https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/munic.html.
Once a ballot request is submitted, Maine voters can track the process of that request and their ballot at: https://apps.web.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/AbsenteeBallot/ballot_status.pl. Voters who need a replacement ballot should contact their municipal clerk.
All absentee ballots must be received by a voter’s municipality by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Only one ballot per voter will be processed and counted, whether cast in-person or by absentee. Post-election processes at the local and state level confirm that the number of voters who participate in the election and the number of votes counted match.
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