Gorham residents are already casting four ballots for the November 5 election. If they have received an absentee ballot, they may take it to the Municipal Building during regular business hours or put it in the ballot box in front of the building until 8 p.m. on Election Day. Mailed ballots must be at the Clerk’s office by Election Day.
Until Oct. 31, residents may register and vote in person at the Municipal Building. Extra hours are on Saturday, Oct. 26, from 8 a.m. to noon, and Wednesday, Oct. 30 from 7 a.m. to
7 p.m. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 5 for voting and for registering new voters who are at least 18 years old. Voters unsure of their polling place can call the Town Clerk’s office for information.
Voters receive four ballots: two local ballots and two state ballots. All registered Gorham voters are choosing two Town Council members and two School Committee members for three-year terms. There are two local referendum questions on the second local ballot, one for bonds to fund capital improvements at Gorham High School and Narragansett Elementary School. The other is a bond request to replace the district’s tennis courts.
There are two State of Maine ballots. Registered voters who live in State District 109 will vote for either Ellie Sato or Alan Livingston to represent them in the legislature. Those in District 108 will choose between M. Thad Moody or Parnell Terry. All Gorham voters will select either Stacy Brenner or Donald Hamill to be State Senator from District 30.
Voters will find the contests for president, U.S. Senate, and U.S. Congressperson on the state ballot. All Maine voters will use a ranked-choice voting for these contests because there are more than two candidates running for these offices. Voters can rank candidates first, second, third, etc. If any candidate gets more than 50% of first-place votes for that office, they will be declared the winner.
If no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, the contest will go into a second round. The candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated. If a voter for the eliminated candidate has made a second choice, their vote will be added to the voter’s second-choice totals. This process will repeat until one candidate has a majority. Voters who wish to support only one candidate should not indicate a second-place choice.
There are five referendum questions on the second state ballot. One is a citizens’ initiative to limit the amount of contributions to political campaigns, three are requests for bonds to fund state projects, and the fifth is to vote on replacing the design of the Maine State flag with one resembling the 1909 flag.
See the Sept. 26 on-line edition of the Gorham Times for information about local candidates. For information about the local referendum questions see the Gorham School District and Town of Gorham websites, or the Oct. 10 edition of the Gorham Times. Information about the state referendum questions is available on-line at http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec or at Baxter Memorial Library and the North Gorham Public Library. The League of Women Voters of Maine has published a Voter Guide. It gives general information about the election process, ranked-choice voting, and has sample ballots. Email info@lwvme.prg for more information.