Voters who want to cast an absentee ballot before Maine’s March 5 presidential primary can do so now.
The Democratic and Republican Parties are holding presidential primaries. Some South Portland voters will also be choosing a House District 122 representative in a special election.
Voters can request a ballot online, by contacting their town or city clerk or voting in person at their municipal office. Maine’s “no-excuse” absentee voting period continues through Feb. 29 during this leap year.
Here’s what you need to know about the ballot.
Semi-open primary
For the first time, Maine’s primaries are “semi-open.” This means that unenrolled voters have the option to vote in one party’s primary without enrolling in that party. As of Jan. 18, 28.8 percent of Maine voters were unenrolled, according to the secretary of state’s office.
Voters already enrolled in a party must vote in that party’s primary unless they change their enrollment by Feb. 15. Those who enroll in a new party may not change their enrollment again for three months unless they move to a new city or town.
Voters who believe they may have signed a petition recently about party ballot access should check on their party enrollment status with their municipal clerk.
Who’s on the ballot
On the Democratic primary ballot, President Joe Biden is facing U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota. Longshot Stephen Lyons is eligible for votes as a write-in candidate.
The Republicans on the ballot are former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and pastor and businessman Ryan Binkley.
DeSantis and Ramaswamy have suspended their campaigns, but they will still appear on the ballot and votes for them will count unless they formally notify the state that they have dropped out. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum previously qualified for the ballot, but he notified the state of his withdrawal more than 70 days before Election Day and asked to be removed.
Ranked choice voting
This is the first presidential primary held in Maine with ranked-choice voting. If no candidate — either statewide or in each of the two congressional districts — does not receive a majority of votes counted on election night, a ranked-choice tabulation will be conducted in Augusta in the days after Election Day.
On the Republican side, that count would have no bearing on electors. The state party has announced in November that they will only use the first round of voting to determine their delegates to the national convention.
Absentee ballot processing
Cities and towns can begin processing absentee ballots up to seven days before Election Day, with notice. This processing is public and can be observed by anyone and involves opening envelopes and putting the ballots into a tabulator or ballot box.
However, these ballots are not counted until after 8 p.m. on Election Day, at the same time as all other ballots.
BDN writer Michael Shepherd contributed reporting.