The Municipal and Referendum Election and State of Maine General Election are held annually on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. This year it will be held on Nov. 8, 2022.

Is your voter registration information up to date? Update it now to avoid waiting in line on
Election Day. Voter registration is available for new voters or for existing Scarborough voters to change their address or name at Town Hall during regular business hours. Twenty-one days prior to the election is called the “closed period.” Residents who register to vote must do so in person in the Town Clerk’s Office. The “closed period” starts Wednesday, Oct 19, 2022. When registering to vote, please be sure to bring a Government issued ID and something with your Scarborough address, if your ID does not have it.

There are three ways to vote: by absentee ballot, early in-person, or on Election Day. To vote
absentee, request your ballot by completing an application either in-person or online and return it to the Scarborough Town Clerk’s Office, or fill out the e-form request (link on our website).

Absentee ballots are available beginning Oct. 11. For further information on absentee voting
and voter registration, please contact the Scarborough Town Clerk’s Office at 730-4020.

Early voting is available at Town Hall on weekdays from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., from Tuesday,
Oct. 11 through Thursday, Nov. 3. Town Hall is open extended hours, until 6 p.m.,
on the first and third Wednesday each month (Oct. 19 and Nov. 2). For additional
voting accommodations, Town Hall will also be open on Saturday, Oct. 22 from 8 a.m. –
noon. Early voting after Nov. 3 (the Friday and Monday prior to Election Day) will
require a Special Circumstance.

Voting will take place on Election Day, Nov. 8, at the Scarborough High School from 7
a.m. – 8 p.m. There will be four ballots: one State General Election Ballot, one Municipal
General/Referendum Election Ballot and two Municipal Charter Ballots. All ballots will be two-sided. Be sure to double check when voting that you have voted on both sides of the ballots.

On the ballot for the municipal election, candidates are running for two seats on Town Council (three-year term), Board of Education (one-year term and three-year term), and Sanitary District (three-year term). All candidates are running uncontested; the number of candidates running for each seat is equal to the number of seats available. Meet the candidates ahead of the election by attending our annual Candidates’ Night, sponsored by the Scarborough Community Chamber of Commerce. It will be held on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. with Kevin Freeman as moderator. Watch in person at the Town Hall or livestream through Zoom or YouTube — links will be available on our website prior to the event.

In addition to filling the elected position vacancies, there are two items on the ballot that have come to referendum for voter approval: The Library expansion project, and proposed
amendments to the Town Charter.

The Scarborough Public Library building was established in 1989 and has made efforts to
expand since the early 2000s (a vote to do so was defeated in 2006). “Today the library is
seriously under-sized for a community of 22,135 residents, and more so than any other
comparable library in Maine,” states a letter from the Library Board of Trustees and director.

All capital expenditures over $400,000 require voter approval per Town Charter. The Library
Board of Trustees has requested that the voters consider granting appropriation authority up to $12,938,995, with financing to come from General Obligations Bonds for Library expansion at the existing site. The Trustees have pledged private funding to cover any costs over $12,938,995, including relocation expenses to allow the Library to operate in a temporary location during construction. Private support will be raised through a capital campaign, and the Library began this planning at the start of 2022.

There is also a referendum for proposed amendments to the Town Charter. The Charter states that a committee will review the Charter every 10 years and make recommendations to the Town Council on any amendments. The Ad-Hoc Charter Review Committee met regularly from January-July 2021 before presenting its findings in a final report to the Town Council. The proposed amendments include raising the salary for members of the Town Council and Board of Education; adjusting the timeline requirements for completion of the annual audit; giving Town Council the discretion to fill a Board of Education vacancy within six months of the next regular Town election with a special election; and further specifying budget line items. View the full document of amendments on our website.

Check the Elections page of our Town website for more information.

“In the Know” is a regular feature written by Scarborough municipal employees.