Voted early today in Maine. We have absentee vote by mail. Anyone can do it.

[RBInMaine]

Our early voting system is an "anyone can vote absentee by mail" system. The Maine Dems are doing a great job sending out vote-early mailers. Just fill it out, send it in, and your town/city sends you an absentee ballot. Fill it out, sign the envelope, and mail it in using TWO stamps (or drop it off at your town/city office). Done.

We also have same-day registration and voting on election day in Maine. There are also several days of on-site absentee early voting before election day. Put it all together, and we have one of the highest turnouts in the country.

I have been doing early absentee voting by mail for the general elections over the last three or four cycles.

So bank another vote for Clinton/Kaine, Dems straight down the ticket, and support of the progressive side of all referendum questions.

Sounds like Dems are doing well on early voting here in the great Northeast.

[RBInMaine]

1. Early voting is great. I really recommend it.

[femmocrat]

2. I wish Pennsylvania would join the 21st century.

We have one-day voting across the state. Absentee ballots are not for convenience, but restricted to those who cannot make it to the polls.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

4. Do you actually have to provide an excuse for why you need an absentee ballot?

That seems weird to me if so.

[femmocrat]

8. I think so...

It is for military, illness, travel, things like that. I only used it once, a long time ago. There is a long list, but I remember my reason was "out of the county that day." If you are able, you have to show up in person.

Although I doubt if anyone actually checks. It is honor system as far as I know.

[RBInMaine]

9. Do you mean same-day registration and voting? Do you have any early voting, or just election day?

[femmocrat]

10. There is voting on one day, Nov. 8.

The deadline for registration was yesterday. No same-day registration. Absentee ballots must be requested by Nov. 1.
No early voting.
Welcome to the 20th century!

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

3. Also in Maine

and we sent in our absentee ballots on Saturday. I usually vote absentee ballot for the general elections in Nov. We're too busy that time of year. I imagine the polling places will be packed on election day this year because of the presidential election. The only time I just show up and vote is for the local elections for school budgets that they do in the summer. I wish we could stop doing those elections by the way. Why do we vote on the school budgets but not the budgets for all other city departments like the police dept, fire dept, etc? They just get their budgets from the city but we have to have the general population vote on the school budget when the general population doesn't understand what really goes into those budgets. The whole point of this annual school budget vote is to force the school districts to operate on minimal budgets. I don't like it, but I vote to try and make sure that the kids get what they need. There are always people that show up to vote down the school budgets because any amount of money is too much to spend on schools if you ask them.

[RBInMaine]

6. The one consolation about the school budget vote is it prevents another attempt at TABOR.

Remember TABOR, the Maine Heritage Center/Grover Norquist attempts to tie our budgets in knots and gut needed services? Well, with the school budget vote law, we can say we have a method in place to give voters some voice on that which is 60% of the local budget which is essentially a TABOR type law. So all in all, I have to say I support that. And for the most part people support the schools and they get passed. Occasionally a town has to tweak the budget and then do a re-vote.

I love our early voting system. So easy. Yeah, I like to vote early so I don't have to deal with lines at the polls. Like you I vote in person for local items and primaries.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

11. Depends on the city you live in.

If you have a high population of republicans in your city you have to vote multiple times and they drive the budgets down. Republicans can't spare a few extra dollars for the schools you know. My city isn't the worst, but I know we've had to re-vote at least once and sometimes it is close.

[RBInMaine]

13. I hear you. Then they get teachers who don't stay and schools in crap condition. Their loss.

[royable]

5. Mail-in ballots in Arizona, to which I moved from Maine many years ago, are postage paid

There's always going to be a small percentage of people who don't apply the correct postage...I hope the percentage in Maine is VERY small.

The rest of what you mention--same-day registration and voting, on-site absentee early voting, sounds great! Wouldn't it be wonderful if all states did this!

Thanks for your progressive vote!

[RBInMaine]

7. The word goes out to put two stamps on them.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

12. They actually said in the directions for the Lewiston ballot

that only one standard stamp is needed because the ballot is a single sheet this time. I suppose it might be different if you have more local things to vote on and have some more sheets.

[RBInMaine]

14. Yup.