Secretary of State Dunlap at Merrill Auditorium at Noon Today.
Bob Wiener of the Historic Preservation Office Answered a City Call for “All Hands on Deck” to Assist With Absentee Ballots in the State of Maine Room Because of the Huge Turnout. Bob was Flattening the Ballots. “This is the Way Democracy Works,” he said Chuckling.
Kahtoum Idris, from Sudan, Voted for the Second Time.
Katie Bridges, a Voter at East End Community School, Just After Noon Today.
“This is a very heavy turnout for the midterms,” said Maine Secretary of State Dunlap at noon today. “It compares to a presidential election. There is a lot going on including the governor’s race.” The Secretary was visiting the Merrill Auditorium voting area. “It’s all going smoothly.”
The three polling stations in Portland that this blogger visited all reported excessively higher than usual voters. Early morning lines were unusually long with waits of an hour or more. Just after noon today, there was a long line extending out the door at East End Community School. Governor Joe Brennan, his wife and his son, were in the hallway just having voted. The Governor is an enthusiastic supporter of Janet Mills for Governor. He lives on Munjoy Hill.
“I’m happy Maine will be rid of Paul LePage though I’m not sure how I feel about him infecting the young minds of Florida with his ignorance,” said Katie Bridges. Katie was referring to reports that LePage is moving to Florida and hopes to get a teaching position at a college there. (See below right photo).
Over at city hall, Lindsey Clement, voted absentee “to help change policy in the city and nationally. This is a protest vote against Trump. He’s not in favor of women’s rights, immigrants’ rights and for health care.” Nicole Demoranville said: “This election is important because we need to get the power back from the Trump administration. It’s an uneasy feeling to watch him in power.”
Kahtoum Idris said she was voting because: “I’m an American citizen. I want to help support my people.” She learned her excellent English at adult education here and works at USM, Portland. She was voting at the Expo where they briefly ran out of registration cards for new voters in the area according to Susan Maatago, Warden. Registration cards were needed because voters moved to different parts of the city and need to re-register. There are also a lot of new voters in the area she said.
Just how big will the blue wave in Portland and the State be?