The first amendment to the Maine Constitution was initiated fourteen years after statehood. The next few decades produced amendments adjusting the structure and rules of the new state. As the 200th anniversary approached in the year 2020, 172 amendments had been approved. To understand the changes, one must refer to the articles of the constitution…
The following are samples of ballots used in issue elections, such as constitutional amendements, citizen initiated questions, bond issues, and issues proposed by the legislature.
If the fire engines are parked outside on a weekday, you can be pretty sure they’re voting inside. . . . Voting in Maine is fun. It is neighborly. It is seeing people, and swapping news, as well as being a citizen, choosing a president. Bill Caldewll–1977. Elections at the state level for office…
Candidates for Governor Selections from Maine Public Broadcasting Network Debate, November 1, 2006 This election debate was co-sponsored by the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and hosted by Fred Bever. Responses are complete but each selection has been condensed by deleting intervening transitions. Some questions were posed by panelists, some by the candidates. These are…
Roadside signs are a long tradition in Maine elections. With the outlawing of billboards in the 1970’s, they have played an important role in at least raising candidates’ name recognition, and for the appearance of broad support. Paid politial campaign media comes in many forms: signs, bumper stickers, campaign buttons, flyers, newspaper advertising, television and…
Maine once had as many as eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives, thus eight congressional districts. When Maine achieved statehood in 1820, Congress assigned the new state one At-Large Representative, leaving Massachusetts with its allotted 20 Representatives. In the 17th Congress (1821–1823), the final Congress before the apportionment following the 4th Census (1820),…
Elections for governor were initially held annually. In 1880, a two-year term was introduced and lasted through 1958, when four-year terms were instituted. (See election procedures.) The tables below report the election year, votes for Democrats, Republicans, and the next largest vote getting party. Percentages are given for Democrats, Republicans, and the next largest vote-getting…
Votes on citizen initiatives since 1911 The state constitution allows citizens to place issues on the statewide ballot by petition. In its first thirty-seven years, only six initiated bills qualified to be placed on a ballot; only two passed. In the thirty-eight years since 1971, when initiatives returned to popularity, fifty-five initiatives have been presented…
Here are the results of presidential elections in Maine since 1824. Party abbreviations under “Other”: SL=Socialist Labor; C=Communist; SLC=Socialist Labor and Communist (totals combined); ND=National Democrat; IND=Independence; ST=Single Tax. The various early “parties” came and went rather frequently in the nineteenth century. Some were simply vehicles for individuals or specific causes. Number Percent Number Percent…
Votes on referenda since 1911 Most items placed on issue ballots are referenda proposed by the legislature, and most of those are bond issues seeking authorization to borrow large amounts of money over 5, 10, 20 or more years. A small number are “people’s vetoes,” items placed on the ballot by citizen petition in an…
Unlike state elections, the popular vote for President and Vice President of the United States does not directly determine the winners. The final determination is made by a group of 538 people distributed among the fifty states, based on the number of U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives each has. A majority of 270 electoral votes…
Maine Law, Title 21-A, regarding Presidential Electors [Governing the procedure for the Electoral College in Maine 2004] §801. Election In a presidential election year, the presidential electors shall be chosen at the general election. 1. Vote for presidential candidate construed. A vote for the candidate for President is a vote for the presidential electors nominated…
For the nearly 100 years from 1857 through 1954, the Republican Party dominated the state’s politics. Thirty-one Republican governors served during the period, compared with four Democrats. During the 1950s and 1960s Republican enrollment began to slide as Democrats and unenrolled voters became a larger portion of the electorate. Registration is the process for “signing…
For half a century, Maine has had a relatively high voter turnout in presidential elections. In every presidential election from 1960 to 2008, Maine’s turnout, based on its voting age population, has exceeded the national average, frequently by 10% or more. In 2012 it was again ranked second (to perennial rival Minnesota by 0.4%) as it was in 2000 and 2008.
Maine has had 38 U.S. Senators from statehood in 1820 through the elections of the year 2010. Theirs terms, residence, and party affiliations are listed below. Unlike U.S. Representatives, who are elected every two years from one of our two Congressional Districts, U.S. Senators are elected by all voters in the State. Each Senator serves…