Now just 30 days out, absentee ballots for Maine residents are available for the November election. Mainers have the option of voting via mail-in ballot, or by going to their town-clerk's office and filling out their ballot in-person.
The state offers no-excuse absentee voting, meaning anyone can vote absentee without needing to provide a reason.
Absentee voting accommodates voters unable to vote in person come Nov. 5. Beyond scheduling, choosing to vote absentee can possibly reduce the political mailers one receives in the mail.
"We post data about absentee voters online on Tuesday and Friday afternoons," said Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. "Then, starting at the end of October, we post it daily. You may get less spam as an absentee voter because some campaigns do take that data and use it to remove voters from their lists. But not every campaign does so."
At 15,487 absentee ballots requested as of Oct. 6, Bellows says the number of absentee ballots requests for the 2023 election thus far have been lower than in previous elections.
"[This year's ballot has] a higher number of referendum questions than in the past," said Bellows. "Some [of the issues] are a bit more complex. It is very possible people are still trying to gather information and investigating what they think and how they intend to vote."
Of the votes cast in Maine's 2021 election, 26.37% were absentee, according to the office of Maine's Secretary of State. In 2022 — when Maine had the highest voter turnout of any state — 34.74% of Maine voters casted absentee.
"From our perspective, it doesn't matter to us whether people vote absentee or in person on election day," added Bellows. "We just want [Mainers] to vote."
