AUGUSTA, Maine - There are growing indications that when the voting is all over Tuesday night, Mainers will set a new record for turnout.
By Thursday evening's deadline, nearly 258,000 voters had requested absentee ballots, and more than 218,000 had filled them out.
University of Maine Political Science Professor Mark Brewer says that signals a record-setting turnout this election.
“The number of people who have already not only requested absentee ballots at this point, but submitted them at this point, is staggering," he says. "Those are huge numbers.”
With the combination of the presidential race, the tight 2nd Congressional District campaign and the referendum questions, Mainers could set a new record for participation in an election. Maine’s current record is 73.1 percent of eligible voters.