Everything You Need to Know About Casting Your Ballot in the Upcoming Election

As November 5 quickly approaches, Mainers are preparing to make their voices heard at the ballot box in a number of critical races.

Not only will voters be tasked with casting their ballots for the presidency, they will also be asked to make a choice for the United States House and Senate, as well as for many state and local offices.

There will also be five statewide questions on the ballot: one citizens initiative, three bond questions, and one piece of legislation out of Augusta.

Appearing on the ballot as presidential candidates this election cycle are five individuals, including former President Donald Trump (R), Vice President Kamala Harris (D), Libertarian Chase Oliver, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and Justice for All candidate Cornel West.

Mainers living in the First Congressional District will be asked to choose between incumbent Rep. Chellie Pingree (D), Republican Ronald C. Russell, and Independent Ethan Alcorn to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In the Second Congressional District, incumbent Rep. Jared Golden (D) is facing off against current State House Rep. Austin Theriault (R) in what has become a closely-watched competition.

Statewide, voters will be asked to select between four candidates for one of Maine’s two seats in the United States Senate: Incumbent Sen. Angus King (I), Democrat David Costello, Republican Demi Kouzounas, and Independent Jason Cherry.

Because Maine State Senators and Representatives are both elected to two-year terms, all 151 seats in the House and all 35 seats in the Senate are up for election this year.

For more information about who will be appearing on your specific ballot this November, enter your address here to see a sample ballot: https://www.maine.gov/portal/government/edemocracy/voter_lookup.php

Question 1 — the statewide citizens initiative on the ballot this November — will be asking voters if they would like to limit contributions to independent expenditure-only PACs — commonly referred to as Super PACS — to $5,000.

While traditional PACs can make contributions to political candidates in addition to making independent expenditures — such as running phone banks and producing advertisements — they are already limited to receiving no more than $5,000 a year from any single donor.

Super PACs, however, cannot donate directly to candidates but are currently eligible to receive unlimited contributions from their donors.

If approved, this would present a challenge to the current structure of PAC limitations, as well as to existing legal precedent.

Those behind the initiative have indicated that they anticipate this law, if approved, will spark legal challenges that will ultimately bring the issue before the Supreme Court.

The three bond questions being presented to voters are seeking approval on funding for a range of different projects.

[RELATED: These Five Questions Will Be On the Ballot in Maine This November]

Stemming from a law approved by legislators in April, Question 2 asks voters if they would like to approve a $25 million bond to provide funding to the Maine Technology Institute for innovation-related efforts.

This money would be used for “research and development and commercialization as prioritized by the Maine Innovation Economy Advisory Board’s most recent innovation economy action plan and the Office of Innovation’s most recent science and technology action plan.”

These funds must be awarded by the Maine Technology Institute through a competitive process to Maine-based public and private institutions “to leverage matching private and federal funds on at least a one-to-one basis.”

If approved, the bond in Question 3 would give the Maine Historic Preservation Commission $10 million to spend on restoring historic buildings owned by governmental and nonprofit organizations.

Award of these funds by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission would need to be contingent on a 25 percent local match by each recipient.

Should voters approve Question 4 this November, $30 million would be made available to establish the Maine Trails Program in order to leverage at least $3 million in matching public and private contributions for the “design, development, and maintenance of nonmotorized, motorized, and multi-use trails statewide.”

The Bureau of Parks and Lands would be restricted to $7.5 million spending annually, and after the first year, any remaining unspent balance may be added to the total for subsequent years.

These funds would be awarded through a competitive grant process to municipalities, executive branch departments and agencies, and nonprofit organizations.

[RELATED: Here’s How Mainers Feel About November’s Ballot Questions — Pan Atlantic Research Poll]

Question 5 asks voters if they would like to replace the current state flag with an early 20th century design commonly referred to as the Pine Tree Flag.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows held a design contest this past summer to solicit options for the specific model flag upon which voters will be deciding this November. Although a design has now been chosen, an image will not be included on the ballot.

The official description of this design — as included in a bill signed into law earlier this year — reads: “buff, charged with the emblem of the State, a pine tree proper, in the center, and the North Star, a mullet of 5 points, in blue in the upper corner; the star to be equidistant from the hoist and the upper border of the flag, the distance from the 2 borders to the center of the star being equal to about 1/4 of the hoist, this distance and the size of the star being proportionate to the size of the flag.”

For more detailed information about these ballot questions from the Maine Wire, check out this article: These Five Questions Will Be On the Ballot in Maine This November

As has been the case for the past several years, Maine will be utilizing ranked choice voting in a number of key races for federal offices.

In 2018, the Maine Supreme Court issued an advisory opinion explaining that the use of ranked choice voting in general elections for State Representative, State Senator and Governor would be unconstitutional, given that Maine’s constitution explicitly says the winner of these positions must be decided by a plurality of voters.

As a result of this, ranked choice voting is only used in elections for federal offices, including the presidency, United States Senate, and United States House.

When filling out your ballot for an office that is using the ranked choice system, there are a number of ways your may go about doing so.

The candidates’ names will appear down the left-hand side of a table, while the ranking positions will be listed across the top.

Depending upon your opinions of the candidates running for a particular office, you may choose to rank all the listed candidates, some of the listed candidates, or vote only for one candidate. Both images below depict valid ways to fill out a ranked choice ballot.

For those who wish to only cast their ballot for one candidate, you may either fill in just the first column bubble next to that candidate’s name, or fill in every bubble in the candidate’s row, marking that person as your first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on.

Both ballots depicted below are valid ways to vote for just a single candidate in a ranked choice election.

Skipping columns or marking multiple candidates in a single column will invalidate your vote, and it will not be counted.

For more information on how to properly mark your ballot in races using ranked choice voting, refer to this guide published by the State Bureau of Corporations, Elections, and Commissions: https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/upcoming/pdf/RCVMarkedBallots.Updated101420.pdf