Lincoln County voters vetoed Maine’s same-sex marriage law and soundly rejected the state’s school consolidation effort during the Nov. 3 referendum.
A total of 629 votes separated the ‘yeas’ from the ‘nays’ on the controversial Question 1; the people’s veto of same-sex marriage legislation signed into law in May. The law never took effect as it was immediately suspended by a successful petition drive to put the law to a statewide vote.
Twelve of Lincoln County 19 municipalities voted to uphold the edict, but in those towns that voted to repeal the law, particularly Waldoboro, Jefferson, Wiscasset, and Whitefield, large margins between the vote totals was enough to make the difference in favor of repeal.
In a much narrower decision, local residents voted 8650-8296 to repeal Gov. Baldacci’s prized school consolidation effort, although the votes against repeal carried the day statewide.
Lincoln County residents strongly endorsed an expansion of Maine medical marijuana law, voting 10,759 to 6515 to expand the criteria for a prescription and setting up a system of nonprofit dispensaries to provide medical marijuana to prescription holders legally.
Local voters soundly rejected both tax initiatives on the ballot. Question 2, a citizen’s petition proposal to cut the excise tax by 55 percent and implement tax incentives for green and hybrid vehicles was defeated: 13,110 to 4174.
Question 4, the so-called TABOR II citizens’ petition proposing a hard cap on state and municipal spending was also defeated 9842 to 7332.
Local voters split on Questions 6 and 7, passing Question 6, a $71,250,000 bond package for infrastructure improvements, 11,084 to 6010, and rejecting a constitutional amendment increasing the amount of time for local officials to certify signatures on citizen’s petitions: 8664 to 8117.
Ballot clerks in Newcastle, Damariscotta, and Bristol said the turnout for the off-year election was high with polling places hosting a steady stream of voters.
Many voters declined to speak about the issues after they voted in Lincoln County Tuesday.
Not so for Sarah Richards who brought her son Sam, who says he is almost 8, to the polls at the Bristol Town Office. After signing up to vote, she invited her son behind the curtain to introduce him to the mysterious process called democracy.
Mom Sarah explained the importance of voting and how we, the people, get to choose. In some countries the leaders make the decisions. Here we get to choose, she told the youngster.
“It is a wonderful experience and I wanted him to learn it. It is important to say what people think,” she said.
These are serious matters, she said of the referenda questions on the ballot.
Sam seemed impressed. “I didn’t know it would be like this. It is kinda cool,” he said.
In Damariscotta Doug Sewall said he came to vote because “of certain questions” on the ballot. He said he would rather not elaborate.
Deb Arter said she came to vote on important questions.
“I believe Question 1 was important to the country. I voted ‘no,'” she said with authority.
Charlie Ault spent much of his time in the Damariscotta town voting areas chatting with clerks and voters. After stuffing his ballot into the slot in the top of the brown wooden box, he said he was interested in the questions, for they were most important.
Which one was he most concerned with?
“I am interested in the bonding questions,” he said. “We need to keep up our ports and bridges. We need the bonds to augment other revenue streams.”
