FREEPORT

By 6:50 a.m. Tuesday morning, Freeport citizens had formed a line that led out the door of Freeport High School and into the crisp morning air. The doors to the gymnasium opened at 7 a.m. sharp, and folks kicked off Election Day 2016 in an orderly and enthusiastic fashion.

“It’s either vote now or at the end of the day, and I get up early,” said Derek Libby, whose sentiment echoed most of the early-morning voters.

“I didn’t know when I was going to get out of work,” said Christine Reynolds. “I didn’t want to not vote.”

Lines were out the door at most polling places Tuesday morning, continuing a trend of voters getting a jump on things this year. The state is expecting to set records in many towns for the number of absentee ballots submitted over the past couple of weeks.

“We had a lot of folks here in line at 7 (a.m.),” said Brunswick Town Clerk Fran Smith, who oversaw the polls at Brunswick Junior High School. “The line was out the door and down the street. But that’s what we anticipated. It was really busy for an hour, but we got people in and out as quickly as possible.”

Smith said she expected a lull in the amount of voters throughout most of the day, with another uptick when folks start getting out of work. Her prophecy proved true, as the lines were again growing at 4 p.m. But with extra employees and voting machines, and the morning rush setting the tone, Smith was confident everything would run smoothly until the 8 p.m. closing time.

“I’m so happy with how it went this morning,” said Smith on Tuesday afternoon. “That gave us a lot of hope for how the day would go.”

After the initial morning rush, Bath Town Clerk Mary White was worried that the polling place at Bath Middle School would become overrun once people got out of work.

“I’m a little nervous,” White said midmorning on Tuesday. “It’s been very slow for the past hour. I’m a little worried about 5-8.”

Still, White voiced confidence in her staff and the people of Bath, and voting went smoothly for the duration of Tuesday.

At the Lisbon polling place at Lisbon High School, many voters talked of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s recent visit and how it might effect the polls.

“Trump’s visit made me think worse of him,” said Mike LaFontaine. “This has been the worst presidential cycle I have ever seen.”

David Garnett of Open Door Bilble Baptist Church, however, thought Trump’s visit was good for the town — and for voters.

“Any candidate that goes to any city shows that they care,” said Garnett. “To come to a small town it shows even more. It shows concern for the little guy. And that goes for both candidates. I think the in-between guy, the working class, has been forgotten. That will change after this election.”

Though the presidential race loomed large, many folks across the Midcoast expressed the importance of the six referendum questions.

“The presidential election is swamping everything,” said Andrew Dodge of Freeport. “But the (referendum) questions are very important. Their impact is immediate.”

Tink Mitchell of Bath agreed.

“The questions directly effect us here in Maine,” Mitchell said.

bgoodridge@timesrecord.com