DURHAM – The main event on Nov. 6 might be Barack Obama versus Mitt Romney for the presidency, but local races and a question on the future of Regional School Unit 5 have heightened local interest in the upcoming election.

The big story in Durham is the potential withdrawal of the town from RSU 5. On Election Day, voters in Durham will be asked if they want the town to leave the RSU. The ballot question, as approved by the selectmen at a meeting last month, reads: “Do you favor filing a petition for withdrawal with the board of directors of Regional School Unit 5 and with the Commissioner of Education, authorizing the withdrawal committee to expend $50,000 and authorizing the municipal officers to issue notes in the name of the town of Durham or otherwise pledge the credit of the town of Durham in an amount not to exceed $50,000 for this purpose?”

A committee of residents has been looking at the possible ramifications of a pullout. Kevin Nadeau, the chairman of the committee, said the group found that Durham pays a proportionally smaller share of the school budget when considering the town’s population and the number of children it has in the RSU 5 schools.

“Durham has 30 percent of the kids (in the schools) and 29 percent of the population (of the three RSU 5 towns combined) and at the end of the day, what we pay to the RSU amounts to 13 percent of the school budget,” he said, adding that in his opinion, the situation was advantageous to the town.

“I would say Durham’s absolutely getting a good deal,” he said.

Durham Town Clerk Shannon Plourde said the combination of the RSU question and the presidential race has caused a high level of interest in this election in Durham. She said that there have already been a large number of residents who have voted early through absentee ballots.

“I’m keeping up, but I’m overwhelmed,” she said with a laugh last week. “In 2008, there were 523 absentee ballots. We’re already up to 399.”

Plourde said she believes the total number of absentee ballots this year will be higher than the 2008 election.

There is only one local race on the Durham ballot, and it is an uncontested one. Sarah Hill of Cedar Pond Road has filed papers to finish the term of Philip Gilikson on the Board of Selectmen.

In Freeport, there are several local races on the ballot, but only one is contested. Council Chairman James Cassida of Timber Ridge Road is running for re-election for the District 4 seat. Andrew Wellen of Hunter Road is opposing Cassida for the seat.

One other seat on the Town Council will be up for grabs, as incumbent Councilor Charlotte Bishop chose not to run for re-election as an at-large councilor. Melanie Sachs of Kelsey Ridge Road is alone on the ballot for the three-year term.

There will be no changes in representation from Freeport on the Regional School Unit 5 board of directors. Two seats are on the line, but the only two candidates on the ballot are incumbents John Morang of Murch Road and Karin VanNostrand of Heron Pond Lane.

Also unopposed are the three seats up for grabs on the Freeport Sewer District Board of Trustees. Only Leland Arris III of Circle Drive and Darrel Fournier of Fournier Drive, both incumbents, and Clinton Goodenow Jr. of Carter Road, are on the ballot.

No candidates emerged for the race for the seat on the Water District board, and the town clerk’s office said a write-in candidate would likely fill that seat.

Freeport Town Clerk Tracey Stevens said last week that absentee balloting has been heavy in town leading up to the election.

“We have 1,200 (ballots in),” she said. “That’s about normal for a presidential election.”

While residents don’t need to give a reason for voting early, Stevens said, some voters have told her that they have chosen to vote early simply for the convenience of it.

“We had some people tell us, it’s so much easier to (vote) here at town hall than go to the polls,” she said.

While there are no local races on the ballot in Pownal, there still is high interest in the election. Last week, Pownal Administrative Assistant Scott Seaver said there has been “quite a bit” of early voting in the town so far, estimating that about 100 people have cast ballots early.

New for Pownal this Election Day, Seaver said, is that the town will be counting its ballots with an automatic ballot machine for the first time ever, as the machine has been supplied to the town by the state. Seaver said he feels it will be a big time-saver after the polls close.

“We’re one of the towns the state has provided with a ballot machine,” Seaver said. “So we’re not going to have to count (votes) afterward, only write-in stuff. On the 6th, we’re probably going to save six or seven hours.”