BAR HARBOR—Elections occur on Tuesday, November 7 in Maine. There are no local questions on this year’s ballot, but the state has several questions that have impact on Maine’s future.
The state’s website with a quick rundown of the referendum questions is here.
The state’s guide to the questions is here.
QUESTION 1: Do you want to bar some quasi-governmental entities and all consumer-owned electric utilities from taking on more than $1 billion in debt unless they get statewide voter approval?
QUESTION 2: Do you want to ban foreign governments and entities that they own, control, or influence from making campaign contributions or financing communications for or against candidates or ballot questions?
QUESTION 3: Do you want to create a new power company governed by an elected board to acquire and operate existing for-profit electricity transmission and distribution facilities in Maine?
QUESTION 4: Do you want to require vehicle manufacturers to standardize on-board diagnostic systems and provide remote access to those systems and mechanical data to owners and independent repair facilities?
QUESTION 5: Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to change the time period for judicial review of the validity of written petitions from within 100 days from the date of filing to within 100 business days from the date of filing of a written petition in the office of the Secretary of State, with an exception for petitions filed within 30 calendar days before or after a general election?
QUESTION 6: Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to require that all of the provisions of the Constitution be included in the official printed copies of the Constitution prepared by the Secretary of State?
QUESTION 7: Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to remove a provision requiring a circulator of a citizen's initiative or people's veto petition to be a resident of Maine and a registered voter in Maine, requirements that have been ruled unconstitutional in federal court?
QUESTION 8: Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to remove a provision prohibiting a person under guardianship for reasons of mental illness from voting for Governor, Senators and Representatives, which the United States District Court for the District of Maine found violates the United States Constitution and federal law?
VOTING IN BAR HARBOR
Elections are held in the Municipal Building Auditorium, third floor,
93 Cottage Street
Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voter Registration and Residency
In Maine, you can register to vote on the day of the election. This can be done at the Bar Harbor Town Clerk’s Office at 93 Cottage Street.
Proof of residency and proof of identity is required, e.g. Maine driver's license showing current physical street address in Bar Harbor
VOTING IN SOUTHWEST HARBOR
Voters go to the Southwest Fire Department at 250 Main St in Southwest Harbor.
VOTING IN MOUNT DESERT
The Polling Place for the Town of Mount Desert is Town Hall, 21 Sea Street, Northeast Harbor
VOTING IN TREMONT
Voting for Tremont residents is at the Harvey Kelley Meeting Room (downstairs of Town Office), 20 Harbor Drive in Bass Harbor.
OUR POLICY ABOUT ELECTIONS
While other newspapers and news sites will tell you how to vote, we don’t do that here at the Bar Harbor Story, and it’s likely that we never well. That’s because we trust you to find the information here and in other places, process that information, and determine what you think and what you want your local, state, and national communities to focus on and who to elect for office. You aren’t going to think about every issue (or candidate) the exact same way that we do, and we won’t ever expect you to.
Apologies if you’re looking for something different from us.
Thank you for informing readers about the election and for NOT telling people how to vote. Journalists impair their credibility when they presume to tell readers how to vote.