Ready to vote? Here’s what you need to know

Polling places will open across the state Tuesday morning as voters get their chance to choose candidates for governor, U.S. House of Representatives, and county and local offices.

Communities in southern Maine open their polls at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m., depending on the town. Polls close statewide at 8 p.m.

Live statewide and southern Maine results will be posted at pressherald.com as the votes are counted, starting as soon as the polls close Tuesday evening.

To find out where your polling place is, call your town office or enter your address on the state’s ballot lookup page. The page also shows voters who their elected officials are and what will be on their state ballots. Individual communities post sample local ballots online that show the city and town races and ballot questions.

Voters who want to learn more about their candidates or the ballot questions can find information on the Press Herald’s Election 2022 page.

Any Maine residents 18 or older can still register to vote in person, either at city and town halls or at polling places on Tuesday. While voters are not required to show photo identification to cast their ballots, anyone registering to vote the first time in Maine needs to provide proof that they are eligible residents, such as a driver’s license, student ID, or a utility bill or paycheck stub.

A total of 251,788 Mainers have taken out absentee ballots, and 224,674 had submitted them as of Monday afternoon. While it is too late to ask for an absentee ballot except under special circumstances, it is not too late to submit ballots that already have been provided.

Voters in possession of an absentee ballot who want to ensure that it gets counted should drop it off at the local town office or deposit it in a secure ballot drop box, if available, by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the secretary of state’s office.

Or, they can hold onto the ballot and just vote in person on Tuesday instead.

Don’t mail a ballot at this point. The U.S. Post Office only guarantees delivery of absentee ballots if they are mailed at least a week before the election.

For more information about voting in Maine, go to the secretary of state’s voter information page.

Tuesday’s election ranges from the statewide governor’s race to local select boards, school boards and ballot questions.

Incumbent Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, is running for reelection against former two-term Republican Gov. Paul LePage and independent Sam Hunkler, a retired Beals physician and political newcomer. Ranked-choice voting will not be used in this election.

Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat, is seeking her eighth two-year term representing Congressional District 1 and is running against Republican Ed Thelander, a former Navy SEAL and political newcomer.

In the northern half of the state, Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat, is seeking reelection in the 2nd Congressional District and facing challenges from Republican Bruce Poliquin, who was unseated by Golden in 2018 in the nation’s first ranked-choice election for Congress, and independent Tiffany Bond.

All 186 seats in the Legislature also are up for grabs Tuesday. Democrats currently control both chambers, with 22 of 35 seats in the Senate and 76 of the 151 seats in the House. The party that controls the Legislature will set the policy agenda and choose constitutional offices, including the attorney general and the secretary of state, who oversees state elections.

Voters have a lot of local issues to decide as well, especially in Portland, where 13 referendum measures are on the ballot along with school board and City Council candidates.

Portland voters will decide five citizen initiatives, ranging from further restricting short-term rentals to increasing the minimum wage to $18 an hour and eliminating the subminimum wage for workers who earn tips. Portlanders also will consider making sweeping changes to the city government by amending its charter. Proposed amendments include switching from a council-manager government to a strong mayor, and allowing the school board to draft and send its budget directly to the voters without first seeking council approval.

Voters in Cape Elizabeth and in the Cumberland-North Yarmouth school district also are voting on contentious school renovation projects.

Cape Elizabeth voters are being asked to borrow $116 million to design, build and equip new elementary and middle schools and to renovate Cape Elizabeth High School.

And voters in Cumberland and North Yarmouth are being asked to borrow $73.9 million to purchase land and build a new, prekindergarten through second grade school. The bond also would include money to renovate the Mabel I. Wilson School.