The Municipal and State of Maine elections are held annually on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. This year Election Day is on Nov. 7.
Is your voter registration information up to date? Update it now to avoid waiting in line on Election Day. Voter registration is available for new voters or for existing Scarborough voters to change their address or name at Town Hall during regular business hours. Because we are in the “closed period” (within 21 days prior to the election), residents who register to vote must do so in person in the Town Clerk’s Office. When registering to vote, please be sure to bring a government issued ID and something with your Scarborough address, if your ID does not have it.
There are a few ways to vote either ahead of time or on Election Day. To vote absentee ahead of Election Day, request your ballot by completing an application either in-person or online and return it to the Scarborough Town Clerk’s Office, or fill out the eform request (link on our website). Once received, completed ballots can be mailed to the Town Clerk’s office (P.O. Box 360, Scarborough, ME 04070-0360) or dropped off in person. Ballots being dropped off in person can go in our secure dropbox at the Town Hall entrance, or inside the Clerk’s office during business hours.
Early voting is by absentee ballot is also available in person without having to request a ballot ahead of time. Vote at Town Hall on Monday-Thursdays from 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., from Tuesday, Oct. 10 through Thursday, Nov. 2. Early voting after November 2 (the Friday and Monday prior to Election Day) will require a special circumstance through the Clerk’s office.
Voting will take place on Election Day, Nov. 7, at the Scarborough High School from 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. There will be two ballots: 1 State Referendum Election ballot and 1 Municipal General/Referendum Election Ballot. The State ballot is two-sided, so be sure to double check when voting that you have voted on both sides.
On the ballot for the municipal election, candidates are running for three seats on Town Council (3-year term), three seats on the Sanitary District board (3-year term), and one seat on the Portland Water District board. The Scarborough Community Chamber of Commerce sponsored a Candidates Night on Thursday, October 12 as a way to meet the candidates. A recording is available on the Scarborough Maine Public Meetings YouTube channel.
In addition to filling the elected position vacancies, there is a referendum question regarding the school building project. Question 1 asks for approval on the order authorizing up to $160M in general obligation bonds of the Town to provide funds for the purchase of land, off-site improvements and to construct and equip a new Unified K-3 Primary School and renovations to the Middle School to execute the K-8 Strategic Facilities Project. All capital expenditures over $400,000 require voter approval per Town Charter.
According to the School Building Steering Committee, the project is “a holistic strategic solution for Scarborough K-8 schools to solve facilities inadequacies and inefficiencies by reorganizing grade levels, aligning our student populations, and building a new consolidated primary school that addresses educational equity, operational efficiency, population growth, flexibility, safety and security, and 21st century learning and teaching methods.”
Check the Elections page of our Town website for links to project information, citizens’ initiatives on the State ballot, sample ballots, and more. For further information on absentee voting and voter registration, please contact the Scarborough Town Clerk’s Office at 730-4020.
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