How to vote early in Maine’s Nov. 3, 2026, General Elections

Anyone can request an absentee ballot for the Nov. 3, General Elections! Request yours today at this official site: absenteeballotrequest.sos.maine.gov/

Or call your local municipal clerk’s office and ask that an absentee-ballot application be mailed to you; make your request early to allow enough time for the ballot to be mailed to you. Or you can just stop by your local municipal clerk’s office to vote absentee without having to fill out an absentee application. The ballots will begin to be mailed on or by Oct. 5th, and early in-person voting at municipalities will begin on Oct. 5.

Absentee ballots are available now to request. The deadline for requesting absentee ballots and for early in-person voting is Oct. 29.

Turn in your absentee ballot by 8pm Tuesday, Nov. 3, Election Day. The Office of the Secretary of State reminds everyone that due to USPS delays that, if possible, voters drop their absentee ballots in the secure lockboxes at their municipality, and if they are mailing them, to give plenty of time to be received.

All absentee ballots must be received by 8pm on Election Day.

Not yet registered to vote? Register to vote in-person any day during regular office hours at your local municipal clerk’s office. Or you can online-register to vote by midnight Oct. 13 at https://registertovote.sos.maine.gov/OnlineVoterRegistration/Registration. You also can register to vote in person on Election Day at your local municipal clerk’s office or at some polling places.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026. For those voting in person, polls open between 6 am and 10am, depending on your municipality, and close at 8pm.

Did you know? New! As of 12/31/25, any voter (other than a uniformed service or overseas voter) may apply for ongoing absentee voter status: (PDF). A voter who qualifies will automatically receive an absentee ballot for each statewide election, municipal election and any other election for which the voter is eligible to vote and need not submit a request for each election. Voters must submit the completed form to their municipal clerk.

Ranked Choice Voting: On the Nov. 3^rd ballot, Maine will use Ranked Choice Voting for U.S. Senate and U.S. House (Portland and Westbrook voters also use Ranked Choice Voting in general elections for local offices).

You can rank candidates in order of preference. You don’t have to rank all the candidates if you don’t want to. According to the State’s Elections Division, “If you only want to vote for one candidate in a ranked-choice race, the ballot instructs that you mark only the first-choice oval for your candidate. You can also choose to mark the ovals all the way across in every ranking (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. choice) for your candidate. Both of these markings are valid and will result in your vote being counted for your candidate throughout all the rounds of the ranked-choice voting process, unless/until that candidate is eliminated from the race.”

Questions about voting? Call the State’s Elections Division at 207-624-7650.