FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014
Contact: Kristen Schulze Muszynski
207-626-8404/cell: 441-7638

State of Emergency Declared to Allow Utility Workers to Access Ballots Online

AUGUSTA Utility workers who are restoring electricity in the wake of the weekend snowstorm will have the option to vote today by accessing their ballots online.

The power outages have left tens of thousands of Maine homes without power on Election Day, and many utility workers have been sent far from their hometowns to help with the restoration efforts.

Gov. Paul LePage signed a proclamation Tuesday morning declaring a state of emergency that will allow these workers to vote using the state website. The proclamation allows us to better accommodate utility workers, said Secretary of State Matt Dunlap. Providing aid to a community stricken by a natural disaster shouldnt mean someone surrenders their right to vote.

Voters should go to http://www.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/AbsenteeBallot/index.pl where they will see a link for Utility Workers. Utility workers who are working outside of their hometowns can make a request via this link, and they will be given a login and password to print their ballot from the site, mark it, scan it and return it by email as a PDF or JPEG attachment. The voter will need to have a computer, printer and scanner available to cast their ballot in this manner.These ballots will be counted at the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions in Augusta.