Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap says he now expects more than 50 percent of Mainers would vote by the time polls close today.
By 2:30 p.m. Dunlap had visited polls in Portland, Old town, Augusta and Lewiston and revised his earlier estimate, based on absentee ballot returns, that 35 percent of Maine's voters would turn out. He said it was obvious that people were show up at the polls.
"You see a lot of feet underneath the curtains," said Dunlap.
Dunlap said he is fielding calls from media outlets around the country that are focusing on the same-sex marriage ballot question.
Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap now says voter turnout could be 50 percent rather than 35 percent.
More than 100,000 absentee ballots already have been returned to town clerks' offices, and more than 10,000 are still outstanding. The absentee ballots will be counted after the polls close.
Portland is busy...- Bangor also had lines of people waiting, as many as 50 at 7am, per WCSH6.
Voters line up by the dozens to cast their vote on election day.
Poll workers at the First Baptist Curch in Portland reported a steady stream of residents eager to do their civic duty as soon as the polls opened at 7:00 a.m. Many voters we spoke to say question one - the same sex marriage referendum issue, was what brought them to the polls.
YORK - Turn out was heavy at the York polls on Tuesday, about 200 voters an hour, according to Town Clerk Mary-Anne Szeniawski.
Szeniawski said she believed by the time the polls closed at 8 p.m., York would have a turn-out rate of 50 to 60 percent of registered voters.
At least 30 percent of York's 10,800 registered voters cast ballot by absentee. The town clerk's office issues 3,300 absentee ballots for the Nov. 4 referendum, which is "huge," Szeniawski said.
Szeniawski believes Question 1, whether to repeal same sex marriage, got people out to vote, either in person or by absentee.
Below the fold, more info (to be updated) and rumors... Farmington (big branch of University of Maine up there!) reporting high
Supposedly MSNBC's Countessa Brewer is in Maine, as is HRC's Joe Solmonese, who just spoke with Andrea Mitchell.
(I know he's a New Englander and all, but it burns my butt that Mitchell is interviewing HIM as "the face" of this battle in Maine!)
You want an effective commercial to show on tv fine- Compare these bigots with what they really want, link them to both the Nazis and the KKK. Show a clip of the Klan screaming about faggots cut to NOM screaming about Homosaxuals, end with a shot of a concentration camp.
Tagline- Where inequality really leads.
11/4/2009 6:16 AM
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Ted
"seeing people on tv asking you to care about Equality is nowhere near as powerful as the people in your life asking you to care about THEM."
I agree with that much, but it's also important to make sure all the right people get to the polls and vote the right way (including considering the ACTUAL issue), as you mentioned earlier.
I read that some people were confused, despite our conversation earlier, and they thought if they voted Yes, they rejected the religious exemptions that were part of the law that was passed. Of course an equal number could have been misled the opposite way.
I found it rather ironic (and a bit "illuminating") that despite the efforts of Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin to get the conservative guy in New York elected, he STILL lost
but "what" commercial, Ted, will convince people against the lies of the NoM campaign?
Look, i'm not saying that TV ads are ineffective; i'm simply saying they're not effective ENOUGH.
seeing people on tv asking you to care about Equality is nowhere near as powerful as the people in your life asking you to care about THEM.
I'm so over this apologist bullshit. Come Out, Americans, or you're never going to get Equal Rights, as long as the majority is allowed to vote on them.
11/4/2009 5:51 AM
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Ted
Both Maine and California are realistically 50/50. If the vote came out 60/40, I would agree it's more than the campaign, but 5%, one commercial for a few days can change the minds of 5%. It shouldn't, but as you point out, the vote shouldn't happen in the first place.
The Lesson is This: TV Campaigns are nowhere near as successful as real-life interactions.
To everyone who says "I'll let people know that I'm gay if it comes up", or "If someone ASKS me I'll tell them...." need to quit with the evasion and apologetics and start being upfront and honest.
People are less inclined to vote against Marriage Equality if they realize that they're casting a vote against a family member, friend, co-worker, basically someone that they know and love and respect.
COME OUT, guys. To Everyone. If you don't know how one can possibly be Out to "everyone", send me a message and I'll give you a list of a couple dozen pointers.
For some reason, America is letting a still-bigoted majority vote on the rights of an historically-oppressed minority.
And once again, we lost not due to "badly run campaigns", but due to LGBT people not being Open and Honest, thus negating the hatred and lies spewed by the NoM crowd.
They didn't run a "good campaign" at all. They lied, and twisted, played dirty.
.
But as I've said in other posts, we have to be patient. And that sucks I know. But civil rights movements move glacially slow in the US. Look how long it took to end slavery, for blacks to get the right to vote, for women to get the right to vote, to end segregation, or the rights GBLT people have gained from Stonewall to now.
But as Ted says, we need to learn from our mistakes and learn from our enemies and get better organized
What also seems to be missing is the lightning rod of definitive leaders in the GBLT community to spearhead the movement.
My sincerest appologies to the Connexion members from Maine- I guess it's time to regroup
11/4/2009 4:45 AM
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Ted
I know how you feel, Andrew, but just think how far our other rights have come. It was illegal in 14 states for two people of the same gender to even have sex together in 2003.
People opposed to gay marriage in places like Massachusetts and Connecticut have given up. It will still happen in Maine and California. The legislatures were just ready for it before the people were.
The campaign in Maine was too much like one in California, we let them dictate the issue (shifting the focus to schools instead of adults who love one another). I don't know what our side was thinking. I understand the anti-gay people hiring the same ones who were successful in California, but why did the pro-gay people hire those losers again, and why didn't they learn?
A part of me wants to give up. A part of me is tired of fighting these Christians with words and trying to win people over. I feel like it's hopeless. That there's nothing we can do to convince people we're not the bane of their existence. Maybe we should all move to Europe. The United States probably couldn't stand without our expertise. Not that I have any particular expertise, but most of my LGBT brothers and sisters do.
To be honest, with all the garbage going on in the world, it makes you want to move to another universe.
So it looks like the citizens of Maine have decided that glbt don't deserve equal rights their laws and repealed a law by the legislature that made same-sex marriages legal. sad.
Looks like my candidate won by just over 200 votes. About the same number of hits I got on each of the blogs used to "independently" root it up for him and take down Attwood.
11/3/2009 11:05 PM
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Thomas
hahaha lol
11/3/2009 10:50 PM
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Ted
Looks like medical marijuana passed in Maine, so at least gay people who are depressed about the vote can get high if the veto succeeds.
Thank you todd. Those words were actually a bit comforting.
11/3/2009 10:25 PM
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Thomas
What Todd said,
Dave Wiechman winning a local city council election keeps a wannabe career politician with sarah palin characteristics from gaining that step towards fucking us all.
and the woman i campaigned for, a very popular and out lesbian named annise parker, is leading the top 3 candidates for the mayoral race in houston, texas. she will be in the december runoff against an african american.
an out gay man, lane lewis is in the runoff for a city council seat in the city too.
this is texas people, TEXAS!! and out and proud lesbian and an african american, both democrats, are going to be in the runoff election for the mayor of houston. is she wins, and she will, she will be the first gay mayor of a major u.s. city.
there is hope, don't lose it. i continue my mantra, THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY!! these local elections are the seedlings to a bigger picture one day.
11/3/2009 10:23 PM
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Thomas
Lol its a rockefeller republican who defeated Colorado's local version of a "rising star" sarah palin tyoe.
11/3/2009 10:22 PM
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Ted
So we can be happy about Washington and some guy in Lakewood. Great. Maine is Yes by 5% with 80% reporting
11:14 PM on Tuesday, November 3, 2009. 350 of 605 (58 %) of precincts have been reported.
REJECT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE LAW
Yes 175990 51.29%
No 167158 48.71%
Not good.
11/3/2009 8:22 PM
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Ted
Polls don't close until 8 in Washington...Yes now leads by 1% in Maine...ignore the part about the % of voters represented, something is wrong, it says 108%.
11/3/2009 8:18 PM
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Ted
Apparently, New Jersey elected a Republican Governor...I'm going to see if there are live results for Washington somewhere.
these local elections are the seedlings to a bigger picture one day.
