Steady Stream of Voters Cast Ballots Early

Workers Shawn Lord and Peggy Booker-Turgeon help voters cast their ballots Wednesday at Sanford City Hall.

Photo: Lee Burnett

By Gail Burnett

Thousands of Sanford residents decided to vote early or absentee in this year’s presidential election, beating the expected crowds on Tuesday at the high school.

City Clerk Sue Cote said that as of Wednesday evening, 5,144 of the city’s 16,558 registered voters had either asked for an absentee ballot or come into City Hall to vote. All but 780 of the requested absentee ballots had been returned.

“We’ve had over 100 people each day” since Oct. 7, when her office started keeping extended hours to enable voters to pick up ballots or vote, Cote said. This could rival the 2020 presidential election, when 43 percent of Sanford voters skipped going to the polls, up from less than 30 percent in 2016.

While voters had the covid pandemic in mind four years ago, this year many may be worried about long lines at the single consolidated polling place. Cote said she expects the wait on Tuesday will be shorter than many people are expecting. There will be 100 voting booths and 10 ballot boxes set up in the gym. Close to 100 people, including city staff and residents who volunteered, will be working that day.

“There’s going to be good traffic flow in there,” she said. Parking should not be a problem as high school and Regional Technical Center students will be learning remotely that day.

The poll will be open from 7 am to 8 pm on Tuesday. Under state law, residents who are not yet registered may do so just before voting. The last chance to vote early or get an absentee ballot, however, was Thursday.