As Mainers turned out to vote, some questioned the integrity of the process, while others expressed concerns about intimidation at polling places.
After casting a ballot in Searsmont today, Peter Laing voiced frustration with the evolution of voting in the United States.
“I don’t trust ranked-choice voting, I don’t trust anything about the new electoral system, and I want to go back to the old-fashioned way they’ve done it for the last 200 and however many years,” he said.
Laing, who said he voted a straight Republican ticket, said if you can’t vote in person, you shouldn’t be able to vote at all. And he distrusts mail-in ballots.
“They are finding ballots dumped in the sewer. Every time you turn on the TV they are finding another bunch of ballots dumped somewhere, trash,” he said.
Not far away, in the town of Morrill, voter Gill Golub had different concerns about what might be happening at polling places.
“After seeing what’s going on in the national news across the country, with intimidation by the Trump campaign,” he said.
But Golub, who said he voted for Democrats across the board, said what he wants most is a fair and orderly resolution.
“I just hope there’s peace, no matter which way it goes,” he said.
Despite their concerns about the national voting process, Laing and Golub agreed that voting went smoothly in their towns today.