| Joanne Cole |
Planning to vote in the November 3 general election? Of course you are! At stake: representatives to the Maine House and Senate, your representative to the U.S. House and one of your U.S. Senators, and the President.
Also want to vote in New Gloucester’s September 15 special municipal election? At stake: budgets for the town library and the planning department.
Want to vote early or avoid going to the polls? If so, you’ll need to make separate requests to receive each ballot.
In other words, requesting one doesn’t automatically get you the other. Each election is treated independently, and the town doesn’t keep a master list of voters who prefer absentee ballots.
Read on to understand your options for requesting ballots and voting in each election.
New Gloucester special election September 15. The September 15 vote revisits two articles that voters rejected in the July 14 municipal election: budgets for the town library and the planning department. This time, Article 2 funds library operations with a library director at 36 hours/week with benefits and an assistant librarian at 30 hours/week and no benefits; each reflects a reduction in staffing levels. Article 3 funds the planning department with a town planner at 36 hours/week with benefits. Learn more about the revote here.
If you want to vote on the library and planning department budgets, you can
- Vote in person on September 15, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the fire station at 611 Lewiston Road. (Social distancing protocols and other Covid precautions will be in effect); — or —
- Vote without going to the polls. First, request and get your Sept. 15 ballot by
- Going to the town office and completing a request form then and there;
- Downloading and printing out the Sept. 15 absentee ballot request form online, filling it out, and bringing or mailing it to town hall; or
- Phoning the town office, (207) 926-4126 ext. 1, to request that a Sept. 15 ballot be sent to you by mail.
Voting! If you go in person to town hall to request your ballot and you’ve already decided how you’ll vote, you can fill out your ballot at a temporary booth in the lobby, sign and seal your envelope, and return it at the counter. Done!
If you’re receiving your Sept. 15 ballot by mail or you’ve brought it home from Town Hall, you can complete it and return it by mail to the town office or drop it in the mail slot by the front door of Town Hall. Ballots must be dropped off by 8 p.m. September 15, 2020. You should not take your completed ballot to the fire station polling place on September 15.
The November 3 general election. To vote in the November 3 election, you can
- Vote in person on November 3, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the fire station at 611 Lewiston Road. Again, full Covid precautions and distancing will be in effect, possibly resulting in long lines and delays; — or —
- Get your ballot early and plan to vote without going to the polls. First, request to receive your Nov. 3 ballot early in the mail by
- Applying electronically via the Maine Online Absentee Ballot Request website: https://apps.web.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/AbsenteeBallot/index.pl
- Going to the town office and completing a Nov. 3 request form there;
- Downloading and printing the Nov. 3 request form, filling it out, and bringing or mailing it to the town office; or
- phoning the town office, (207) 926-4126 ext. 1, to request that a Nov. 3 ballot be sent to you by mail.
…and vote! Once you’ve received your general election ballot (sometime in October), you can complete it and mail it to the town office or drop it directly in the slot at Town Hall. Stay tuned for more details as November gets closer.
What about the New Gloucester referendum question on establishing a town charter commission? Citizens successfully petitioned to place the question of whether to establish a town charter commission onto the November 3 ballot. The board of selectmen recently formally approved sending the charter commission question to voters. What about requesting the ballot for that? Details about the charter question ballot remain to be determined, said Sharlene Myers, deputy town clerk.
For now, you can get your ballot and vote early in the September 15 special municipal election and set yourself up to receive your November 3 general election ballot by mail. Again, remember that the September 15 and November 3 election ballot requests are handled separately: you must request both.
