Making a Plan to Vote

Information for Maine Voters

There are three main ways to vote in Maine: absentee voting (by mail), early voting, and Election Day voting.

Absentee voting happens by mail. The state mails your ballot to the voter, the voter completes their ballot and returns it to their town clerk, either by mail or at a ballot drop box. In Maine, voters do not need to justify their choice to vote absentee. Ballots can be requested at this link and must be requested by the Thursday preceding the election.
Early voting allows voters to cast their ballots in-person prior to Election Day. Each town clerk in Maine can set up their own early voting systems, but the practice is not widespread in Maine because of the availability of absentee ballots. Brunswick does not offer early voting.
Election Day voting occurs in-person on Election Day (November 5). During the polling station hours, which vary by municipality, voters go to their polling station and cast their ballots. Eligible voters who are not registered may register on Election Day and cast their ballots.

Explanation of Rank Choice Voting:

Maine is one of the few states that uses ranked choice voting for their federal elections. The way this works on the ballot is that instead of voting for just one candidate, voters will rank the candidates in order of how much they support them. After the ballots are tallied, if no candidate has gained more than half the majority vote, then the candidate with the least votes is eliminated and second choice votes are redistributed to see if any candidate gets the majority. This process continues until one canidate has more than half of the voters support and they are therefore elected into office.

SAMPLE RANK CHOICE MAINE BALLOT (from 2020 Election)

*disclaimer: this is not the ballot that will be available for this cycle.

Voting Locations

Elections in Maine are managed by municipal (town or city) clerks. Polling stations are usually located in public buildings, like schools or town halls. Hours also vary by town. In Brunswick, the polling station is at Brunswick Junior High School (65 Columbia Ave.) and it will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m on Election Day.

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