Voters cast their ballots at the Quimby School gymnasium in Bingham, Maine on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. (Photo by Michael G. Seamans/ Maine Morning Star)
More Mainers turned out to vote in 2024 than ever before, according to data collected by the Secretary of State’s office.
With 842,447 people casting votes in both the presidential election and the race for U.S Senate this year, Maine broke previous high voter turnout records.
Maine was first in the country in voter turnout in 2022, with 680,909 voters casting ballots, according to the United States Election Assistance Commission, the government agency that collects statewide election data.
This year’s data, although not official yet, also surpassed voter turnout from the last presidential election in 2020, when more than 822,000 Mainers voted.
“Mainers should be very proud of our record leading the nation in voter participation,” Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said.
The final voter turnout numbers from the 2024 election will be released later this winter, as clerks across the state are still inputting same-day registration numbers, Bellows explained. On Election Day, after visiting roughly a dozen polling locations, Bellows said statewide same-day voter registration seemed particularly high.
Maine’s numbers are in line with high voter turnouts reported nationally, with more than 153 million ballots counted nationwide, according to the Associated Press. When the final numbers are determined, it is expected to come close to the record-breaking 158 million in 2020, which was the highest turnout election since women were given the right to vote more than a century ago.
According to town-by-town data, 43,9567 people voted in the 1st Congressional District race that U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree won and 402,936 people cast ballots in the 2nd District race between U.S. Rep. Jared Golden and Republican challenger Austin Theriault, which Golden won in a ranked-choice runoff and is slated for a recount beginning Monday.
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