Wed. Nov 6th, 2024

Voters cast early ballots, registered to vote and picked up an absentee ballots on Oct. 31 at Sanford City Hall. (Photo by Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)

Searsport deputy clerk Jennifer Rich took on the part time role, which she joked has become a full-time job as Election Day nears, because she wanted to assess for herself the security of Maine’s election process.

A retired middle school math teacher who said she’s never been one for political parties, Rich helped run early voting in the seaport town. She greeted voters — often people she already knew by name — as they entered the town office decorated with American flag signs and pillows. She runs regular checks on the voter tabulation machine, which she pointed out does not connect to the internet, and ensured all ballots were accounted for by each day’s end.

After seeing the process firsthand, Rich said she wants her community to have faith in the election system — or volunteer to see for themselves. 

Across the state, election officials like Rich have long been preparing for the Nov. 5 election, overseeing early voting since Oct. 7 and preparing for Election Day itself. These officials detailed days filled with trainings, issuing absentee ballots, processing early ballots as they’re returned in preparation to run totals when polls close, preparing supplies and fielding voter questions — which many said they view as a particularly crucial part of their role amid concerns about election integrity nationwide. 

And, all of that has meant long hours. 

Brunswick town clerk Fran Smith has worked 37 days straight, she said as of Monday, and she anticipates she’ll get to 41 days before being able to take a day off. 

But, Smith clarified, “I am not special.” 

Smith’s routine for Election Day will also be reminiscent of many other election workers across the state, she explained, with a 4 a.m. wake up to get to her polling site by 5:30 a.m. at the latest before polls open at 7 a.m. She anticipates working until at least midnight, and then being back at work at 7 a.m. on Wednesday to get the official count to the Secretary of State’s Office, which is due within two days of the election. 

Maine’s elections are run by municipalities, and people like Rich and Smith who know their community well. This is a more hyper-local structure than most of the country, where elections are often run at the county level. 

“My goal is to get people to vote,” Smith said. “How people choose to vote is a personal choice, but we prepare so that we can make the voting process as easy for every voter to ensure that every vote counts.” 

Officials detail election procedures and protections

Some Mainers have concerns about their votes counting, including Erin Larsen, a Republican who voted early in Sanford.

Most Mainers (60%) are confident the upcoming presidential vote will be counted accurately but over a third (35%) disagreed, according to a survey of 1,036 residents conducted by Colby College’s Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs, the Maine Community Foundation and Rockland-based research firm Public Engagement Partners.

There are a lot of eyes on the election process, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said, from the voters themselves, to election officials like Rich and Smith, to outsiders serving as poll watchers. 

“Maine has incredibly strong chain of custody protections around ballots,” Bellows said. 

My goal is to get people to vote. How people choose to vote is a personal choice, but we prepare so that we can make the voting process as easy for every voter to ensure that every vote counts.

– Fran Smith, Brunswick town clerk

As Rich mentioned, the voter tabulation machines are never connected to the internet, Bellows said. She went on to explain, when a voter makes an absentee ballot request, that application is received and approved by the clerk, who then ties the application back to the Central Voter Registration System. 

Clerks mark when a ballot is used and then record the date it’s received as well as whether it’s been accepted. Another basic protection, Bellows said, is that absentee ballots must be in an envelope signed by the voter in order to be accepted. Voters can also track their own ballots through the state’s online absentee ballot tracking system

In Sanford, considered a “swing city,” with three Republicans and one Democrat representing it in the state Legislature, the types of questions election workers are fielding also have to do with some recent structural changes.  

After much debate, the city council voted in August to switch from three wards to a single, centralized location for voting. 

Supporters cited challenges finding enough poll workers for three wards and the long hours worked by the volunteers they did have. They also argued the consolidation would prevent confusion for residents trying to figure out where they need to vote. On the other hand, opponents raised concern about longer lines and travel times for voters, with some going so far as saying the change could suppress turnout.

Research has found that living farther from a polling place and being assigned to a new polling place can reduce in-person voting on Election Day, but that that is largely offset by voters opting to cast more early in-person and mail ballots.

Sanford city clerk Sue Cote, who first proposed the change, said she’s seen at least 100 people per day at city hall during the early voting period, either voting early in-person or picking up an absentee ballot. 

Watching early voters head in to cast their ballots on Oct. 31, Ed Comier, a former warden from one of the consolidated wards, remarked, “this is democracy, manifest.” 

Folks don’t see all of the work that leads up to the day, let alone on the day itself,” Comier said

The election crew in Sanford, as is the case for towns across the state, includes people of various political persuasions. Or, like Rich from Searsport, have no party allegiance.

At 42 years old, Comier said he’s among the younger crowd of election workers. He hopes others around his age or younger will volunteer their time in future years to help with the heavy lifting, physically, but also to understand how the process works for themselves amid increasing election security concerns. 

“We are your neighbors,” Comier said. “We’re your school teachers, nurses, dental techs. I’d hope our word goes farther than someone from outside the state or in D.C.” 

Unsubstantiated, non-citizen voting claims 

This election cycle, unsubstantiated non-citizen voting claims have ramped up, including from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. 

Republican state lawmakers in Maine joined the chorus in October after the Maine Wire, a website owned by conservative think tank Maine Policy Institute, published an article alleging six noncitizens are registered to vote in Maine by comparing voter rolls against self-reported status on medical records, which the website has refused to turn over to the state’s constitutional officers. 

Noncitizen voting is illegal at both the state and federal levels. Studies from across the country have found noncitizen voting to be extremely rare.

Bellows previously told Maine Morning Star the unsubstantiated claims of noncitizen voting set the stage to eventually cast doubt on the Nov. 5 election results. 

“It does seem to be part of a larger pattern around the country where certain partisan operatives are making these accusations about noncitizen voting to decrease trust in our elections,” Bellows said, “and lay the groundwork to challenge results if they don’t win.”

On Monday, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey joined 50 other state attorneys general in calling for a peaceful transfer of power regardless of election results. 

A focus on election worker safety

Safety on Election Day is also a concern for Maine’s constitutional officers as well as election workers. Rich from Searsport said it scares her that people approach Election Day ready for a fight. 

Threats and harassment of poll workers have grown across the country since the 2020 presidential election, when then-President Trump spread lies that he’d won reelection. Maine has seen a few threats of physical violence against municipal clerks since, and in 2022, the state Legislature made threatening election workers a Class D crime. 

Clerks across the state participated in a de-escalation training provided by the Secretary of State this year, in partnership with the Cyber Security Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI, Bellows said. 

Bellows’ office also conducted a statewide briefing for law enforcement about what to expect on Election Day and the laws at the polling places.

The Maine State Police is fully prepared to respond and provide support to election workers across the state if needed, but local communities manage their own preparations, said Shannon Moss, public information officer for the Maine Department of Public Safety. There will be additional Maine Capitol Police Officers on-duty at the State House through the weekend, Moss said. 

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