Election volunteers say that for Freeport, the energy as been positive as voters show up to cast their ballot on Election Day. Kristian Moravec / The Times Record

Midcoast polling locations saw a steady stream of voters and long, quick-moving lines on Election Day morning. Polls closed at 8 p.m. and the counting started.

Christine Wolfe, Freeport’s Town Clerk, said crowds that have shown up so far surpass any she’s seen in her career. Election volunteer Anne McCormack said that staff arrived at 6:30 a.m., and a line started at 6:47 a.m.

“They were clearly on a mission,” McCormack said of the voters. “It was a steady flow of people.”

By around 5:30 p.m. Freeport election warden Steve McPheters said that 76% of registered Freeport voters had cast their ballots.

Freeport resident Christopher William Freeman used a videogame metaphor to describe why he was inspired to come to the polls this year.

“Player agency. I’m really into expressing yourself through games, but this is the most player agency we all have, so it feels important,” he said. Freeman said that he voted for Vice President Kamala Harris because he believes her opponent, Donald Trump, is negative, attention seeking and overall not a good role model. As for Harris, he said he didn’t have a lot of information on Harris, but that it was important to “set out the fire at home.”

Janice Flynn (left), Peter Anzuini (middle) and Isaac Porter (right) stand in front of town hall with Trump gear and a Jay Finegan sign as cars turn onto Holbrook Street to vote at the high school. The group met yesterday, when Flynn and Anzuini discovered Porter standing in the same spot with a sign and decided to band together for Election Day.  Kristian Moravec / The Times Record

Honks echoed through downtown Freeport Village as a a group of three residents with multiple Trump signs, a Trump inflatable and one Jay Finegan sign stood on the sidewalk outside of Town Hall.

Peter Anzuini, 77, said that there are a lot of “insane” policies on the Democratic side. He believes that the whole democratic process and Democratic Party has gone off a ledge.

Primarily, he is concerned about spending. He said that Melanie Sachs, the incumbent for Freeport’s House seat, isn’t conservative enough with spending.

“She is primarily responsible for the increased taxes that we’re going to have to put up with,” he said.

Consistent with his believes, Anzuini also voted against the referendum question to buy 22 Main St. next to town hall.

“How much more tax can Freeport residents support?” He said. “I don’t think they can support much else.”

Farther up the Midcoast in Edgecomb, polls were bustling. The town, with 1,293 people registered to vote prior to Election Day, had prepared for a big turnout, hiring two additional poll workers rather than relying solely on town staff.

On campus at Bowdoin College, student organization Bowdoin Votes is making the final push to get students to the polls. The club’s leaders have spent months tabling on the quad, distributing educational materials and helping their peers register to vote. For Election Day, they’re running shuttle buses between campus and the polls every 15 minutes.

“We’ve done a lot of work up until this point,” said Amelia Kane, a Bowdoin Votes program coordinator and sophomore at the college. “Voting is our civic right as American citizens. … It’s an important part of our democracy.”

The pick-up location by the statue of Bowdoin’s polar bear mascot buzzed Tuesday afternoon. Kane and her fellow Bowdoin Votes organizers stood under a tent offering voter information and donut holes to passers-by. Shuttles came and went, each unloading students with “I Voted” stickers on their jackets before welcoming in the next group of passengers.

Among those waiting for a ride were Bowdoin first years and first-time voters Christina Korn, Shreya Atluri and Miriam Oliveri-Schneider.

“I think we have a lot of power as young people, especially 18- to 20-year-olds, in this election,” Olivieri-Schneider said. “The future of our country is depending on us.”

The students expressed excitement about influencing the issues that matter to them. For Atluri, it’s reproductive rights.

The Times Record reporters are visiting numerous polling sites throughout the day to bring more updates and talk to voters about their priorities.

Polls are open until 8 p.m., and it could be several hours before clerks begin to announce unofficial results. For up-to-date election results, visit pressherald.com.

This story will be updated. 

The Times Record reporters Kristian Moravec, Laura Sitterly and Paul Bagnall contributed to this report.