On Nov. 5, people across the United States will cast their ballots voting for the next president of the United States, national and state members of Congress and several ballot measures. Voting is a foundational part of democracy, and yet many find it to be an extraordinarily confusing process. Here is a comprehensive guide for Bates students – and other voters in the Lewiston area – explaining what will be on your ballot.

Maine is one of a few states that uses Ranked Choice Voting – a voting system in which constituents rank candidates by preference on their ballots. Ranked Choice Voting is sometimes referred to as Instant Run-Off Voting; voters can choose their candidates in order of preferences, marking candidates as their first, second, third and subsequent choices. The candidate with the least amount of votes has their votes reallocated to their voters’ second choice, a process which continues until one candidate reaches a majority.

WHAT’S ON YOUR BALLOT

Candidates for Office

Lewiston voters will elect candidates to both the United States and Maine Congresses this year, as well as several municipal offices and the President of the United States.

United States Senate

All Mainers will elect one candidate to represent the state in the U.S. Senate this year. Independent Angus King is the incumbent. After eight years as the Governor of Maine, King has represented Maine in the Senate since 2013, where he has focused on supporting small businesses, increasing access to healthcare and improving services to veterans as a member of the Veterans Affairs and Armed Services Committee. In the Senate, he helped pass the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. He supports codifying the right to abortion and protecting Americans’ Second Amendment rights to own guns. 

King is facing off against Democrat David Costello, Republican Demi Kouzounas and Independent Jason Cherry. 

Costello has promised to fight gridlock in Washington and advocate for legislation to protect reproductive rights, fight climate change and enact gun policy reform. He holds a graduate degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and has worked as an environmental policy advisor and a politician for several decades.

Kouzounas was born in Saco, Maine as the daughter of Greek immigrants and attended the University of Maine at Orono. She is an Army veteran and a dentist who opened and managed her own practice. Kouzounas’s campaign website says that she will fight to strengthen Maine’s economy by combating inflation; fight the “crisis” at the U.S.-Mexico border; and protect the American dream for the next generation.

Cherry earned a law degree from George Mason University and practiced as a criminal defense lawyer; he has also worked for the F.B.I.. He has never served in government. If elected, Cherry says he would follow an “executor-style approach” by listening to and weighing all relevant opinions. Cherry supports term limits and age limits for elected officials, nationwide ranked choice voting and a judiciary code of ethics. 

United States House of Representatives 

Lewiston is in Maine’s Second Congressional District and home to its current representative, Jared Golden. He is running for re-election against Republican Austin Theriault and write-in Independent Diana Merenda.

Golden is a moderate Democrat who graduated from Bates and served as a U.S. Marine in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has supported providing additional military funding to Israel and opposed most gun reform legislation until last year’s mass shootings in Lewiston, at which point he called for a federal ban on assault weapons. Golden has voted with Republicans on issues like southern border policy and COVID vaccine requirements. He supports labor unions, small businesses and additional benefits for veterans.

Theriault has served in the Maine State House of Representatives since 2023. He is a former NASCAR driver and sports business consultant who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. He grew up in a logging and farming family and says he will fight for rural Mainers and their way of life. Theriault has said he will support Social Security and Medicare, even if his party leadership does not.

Merenda, a write-in candidate, lives in Surry, Maine and has government experience as the mayor of Plandome Heights, New York. She argues that Golden, the incumbent, is “beholden to external forces” rather than Mainers. Merenda says she will support significantly slashing the U.S. military budget, including funding to “Israel’s genocidal ambitions,” and use the money to pay for education, climate solutions, healthcare and housing.

Maine State Senate

Lewiston residents will vote in Maine State Senate District 21, where incumbent Democrat Margaret “Peggy” Rotundo is running unopposed because the Republican candidate has withdrawn. As the parent of Lewiston Public Schools alumni and the former president of the Lewiston Education Fund, Rotundo has sponsored legislation supporting outdoor education for all Maine students. She has led the Senate’s Budget Committee for 18 years and passed legislation to support housing costs, protect the environment and strengthen Maine’s yellow flag gun-safety law.

Maine State House of Representatives 

The Maine State House of Representatives is made of one member from each of 151 districts. Most Bates students will vote in District 93, in which Julia A.G. McCabe is running unopposed. McCabe is a Democrat who has worked as a public school teacher in Lewiston and supports expanding vocational education and community college education. She also supports investing in renewable energy and addiction recovery.

Some Bates students will vote in District 94, where Democrat Kristen Sarah Cloutier and Republican Kendil E. Snow-Black will face off. Cloutier, the incumbent, may be familiar to Bates students as a Harward Center coordinator. She was formerly the Mayor of Lewiston and has supported legislation to fund senior living facilities, provide free meals to students and support addiction-prevention programs. Snow-Black, the Republican, is the director of the Lewiston-Auburn YMCA. Snow-Black does not support enshrining the right to abortion in the Maine constitution nor does she support gender affirming care. She does support retaining the electoral college in Maine and the right of parents to direct their children’s college education.  

Municipal Elections

In addition, Batesies will vote for the Androscoggin County Register of Probate where there is, again, only one candidate, Democrat Thomas C. Reynolds. Reynolds has held the office since 2016.

President of the United States

Finally, Bates students will be asked to vote for the next president of the United States. The two frontrunners are former President Donald  Trump (Republican) and current Vice President Kamala Harris (Democrat). Some of the main focuses of Trump’s campaign have been increasing immigration control, ending the right to abortion and greater restrictions on gender-affirming care for youth. He has falsely contested the legitimacy of the 2020 election. Harris is running on cutting taxes for middle class families, making rent and home ownership more affordable, growing small businesses, bringing down the cost of healthcare and strengthening Social Security/Medicare and tackling the climate crisis.

Mainers will also see Libertarian Chase Oliver, Green Independent Jill Stein, and Justice for All nominee Cornel West on their ballots. Oliver, the libertarian, supports expanded gun rights, a faster work visa process for immigrants who arrive at legal ports of entry and abolishing the U.S. Department of Education. Stein, the Green Independent candidate, supports drastic action to combat climate change and has called Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide” that the U.S. should stop funding. West, the Justice for All nominee, supports increased protections for L.G.B.T.Q. people, reforming the immigration system and reparations for Black Americans; he would also disband NATO and close American military bases abroad.

As in all races, Maine voters will be able to rank all candidates in the order of their preference. 

Maine State Ballot Measures

The following five ballot questions will appear on your ballot. Most relate to budget funding; one proposes a redesign of the Maine State flag. 

Question 1: An Act to Limit Contributions to Political Action Committees That Make Independent Expenditures. Do you want to set a $5,000 limit for giving to political action committees that spend money independently to support or defeat candidates for office?

Question 1 began as a citizens initiative written by Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig. A citizen initiative is legislation proposed through a petition process. The goal of Q1 is to limit monetary contributions to independent political action committees (also known as super PACs). Currently, there are legal limits on how much money individuals can donate to specific candidates — but not to super PACs, which engage in political advocacy but are not tied to campaigns. 

The Maine Morning Star reports that the organizers’ ultimate goal is to put Maine law in conflict with federal precedent, thus leading to a U.S. Supreme Court Case where the justices would rule that all PACs should be regulated. The organizers argue that the current lack of regulation allows wealthy individuals to have an outsized and unfair impact on elections by providing unlimited money to political causes.

Voting YES means you want to set a $5,000 contribution limit. Voting NO means you do not want a contribution limit. 

Question 2: An Act to Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue for Research and Development and Commercialization. Do you favor a bond issue of $25,000,000 to provide funds, to be awarded through a competitive process and to leverage matching private and federal funds on at least a one-to-one basis, for research and development and commercialization for Maine-based public and private institutions in support of technological innovation in the targeted sectors of life sciences and biomedical technology, environmental and renewable energy technology, information technology, advanced technologies for forestry and agriculture, aquaculture and marine technology, composites and advanced materials and precision manufacturing?

This is the first of three bond issues on the ballot. If they pass, the state will borrow and then repay money to fund a variety of initiatives. Legislators have already approved them, and now it’s up to voters to have the final say.

If passed, Question 2 would provide monetary funds to the Maine Technology Institute for research, development and commercialization within Maine based public and private institutions in support of technological innovation. The initiative states that funds must be allocated to life science and biomedical technology; environmental and renewable energy technology; information technology; technologies for forestry and agriculture; and aquaculture and marine technology. 

The Portland Press Herald Editorial Board has published a piece outlining their support for Question 2 stating that these grants can wholly support entrepreneurs across Maine and can allow for actual return on investment. 

Voting YES supports authorizing $25 million for the Technology Institute. Voting NO opposes funds for technology research.

Question 3: An Act to Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue to Restore Historic Community Buildings. Do you favor a $10,000,000 bond issue to restore historic buildings owned by governmental and nonprofit organizations, with funds being issued contingent on a 25% local match requirement from either private or nonprofit sources?

Question 3 originates from a bill that initially requested the state for $25 million for restoration projects. Subsequently the request was lowered to $10 million. This is only the second time funding has been proposed for preservation in almost 40 years. If Q3 receives the votes, the restoration will be carried out by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. 

One claim of support for Question 3 describes how government bonds that support historic preservation are extremely important to ensure that nonprofits and government organizations do not have to scramble for money for their worthwhile repairs. Without these funds Maine will lose sight of their important shared history. 

Voting YES authorizes bonds for historic restoration. Voting NO is voting against providing these bonds. 

Question 4: An Act to Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue to Promote the Design, Development and Maintenance of Trails for Outdoor Recreation and Active Transportation. Do you favor a $30,000,000 bond issue to invest in the design, development and maintenance for nonmotorized, motorized and multi-use trails statewide, to be matched by at least $3,000,000 in private and public contributions?

Question 4 stems from bipartisan legislation that was signed into law in April. It was introduced in 2023 by Democratic Representative Jessica Fay and Republican Senator Russell Black. If approved by voters, the law already outlines how the funds will be spent over the course of multiple years. The Bureau of Parks and Lands will dispense $30 million over 4 years to towns, organizations and clubs. The funding will support design, maintenance, and construction of trails: one of the goals being accessibility and sustainable design. Further, the law declares that a quarter of the funds would be used for nonmotorized trails, a quarter for motorized trails and the final half for multi-use trails. The program would be known as the Maine Trails Program.  

Voting YES supports funds for trail restoration. Voting NO opposes government funding for these restoration projects. 

Question 5: An Act to Restore the Former State of Maine Flag. Do you favor making the former state flag, replaced as the official flag of the State in 1909 and commonly known as the Pine Tree Flag, the official flag of the State?

Currently, the Maine State Flag is dark blue with the Maine crest in the middle. Question 5 asks voters if they would like to replace the blue crested flag with a new design that pays homage to the original pine tree and star flag. The design, which includes a green stylized tree and a blue five-pointed star, was chosen in a public contest this summer. It is similar to the iconic 1901 flag, which already adorns souvenirs and merchandise across the state. The cost of changing the flag will be absorbed into pre-existing budgets. 

The main arguments supporting this referendum are that one, the pine tree and star flag is much more simple and recognizable than the current one; and two, Maine is the pine tree state and the proposed flag will represent that. The main arguments against this referendum include that the new design looks amateur. According to some, the new design does not include as many aspects of Maine’s history, such as fishing and farming, as the current flag does. 

Voting YES supports changing the flag to the pine tree and star design. Voting NO supports the current blue crested flag. 

Early voting in Lewiston has already begun in advance of federal Election Day next Tue., Nov. 5th. Most Bates students will vote at the Lewiston Armory at 65 Central Ave., around the corner from Kalperis Hall. Residents of J.B. and 96 Campus Avenue will vote at Montello School on East Avenue. All polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, and students can register and vote at the polls on Election Day with proof of residence and I.D.