Long lines greeted voters Tuesday morning at many polling places in southern Maine, even though tens of thousands of people already cast absentee ballots in the midterm elections.

In Buxton, the line stretched out the door at 7 a.m. as voters stopped on their way to work.

Thirty minutes after the polls opened in Cape Elizabeth, more than 200 people were still waiting to vote at the high school gym.

At the Exposition Center in Portland, more than 100 people waited to register or vote at 8 a.m.

A cold drizzle didn’t deter candidates and their supporters from standing outside polling places.

In Portland, friends of local school board and legislative candidates waited to shake hands with incoming voters.

Heavy turnout in Berwick and South Berwick snarled traffic and clogged both downtowns in the hour after polls opened.

Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap has predicted turnout as high as 65 percent, a robust figure for an off-year election. Overall, about 140,000 voters had returned absentee ballots to their local election officials by last Thursday, and another 47,000 ballots that were requested had not yet been returned. That’s higher than in 2014.

Election officials said hotly contested races are the driving force behind the predicted turnout.

Mainers will elect a new governor, decide party control in the Maine Legislature and settle contested races for Congress that could help determine the balance of power in the U.S. House and Senate.

Maine voters will also answer five ballot questions, one of which proposed to increase taxes on higher-income earners to pay for home health care workers. The other four questions would allow the state to borrow money to pay for sewage system improvements, transportation infrastructure, and programs and improvements in the University of Maine and Maine Community College systems. And they will vote on local races and issues, ranging from school improvements to moratoriums on marijuana businesses.

Heather Boucher, 51, said her dad made her promise to vote in this election. As she left her polling place in Portland, she planned to call him and show off the “I voted” sticker on her backpack.

Both are Republicans, and he wanted her to be counted in competitive races on the state ballot.

“I think the people who put out negativity are not responsible citizens,” she said.

Ciera Lazarus and Samuel Fessman, both 24, also made a pact to vote this year. They went to the Exposition Center in Portland together Tuesday morning. Both supported Democratic or independent candidates, they said, and they were most interested to see the results of the close governor’s race.

“If I want to make change, I’ve got to get in there,” said Lazarus, pointing to the line of waiting voters.

Daniel Ueblacher, 65, said he recently moved to Maine from New York. He said he expected the campaign season here to be “more pleasant” than in his former state, but he did not find that to be true.

“I got tired of the television ads,” Ueblacher said.

More information about all the decisions facing Maine voters Tuesday can be found at pressherald.com.

Use of the website is free leading up to and during the election, and it features a tool that allows readers to easily read about the races on their state and local ballots. Also watch pressherald.com Tuesday night for live election results from Maine and around the country.

All Maine polls will close at 8 p.m.

Maine residents 18 and older can still register to vote, even on Election Day. More information about all the decisions facing Maine voters Tuesday can be found at pressherald.com.

Use of the website is free leading up to and during the election, and it features a tool that allows readers to easily read about the races on their state and local ballots. Also watch pressherald.com Tuesday night for live election results from Maine and around the country.

Portland Press Herald staff writers Gillian Graham, Bob Keyes and John Richardson contributed to this report.

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