04/04/2018

FAQ for June 12 Primary

On Tuesday, June 12, 2018, Maine's 4 qualified parties (Democratic, Green Independent, Libertarian and Republican) will be holding primaries to select party candidates for placement on the General Election ballot in November.

In addition, there will be a State Referendum ballot and local school budget ballot.

Maine has a "closed primary" system which means, unless a party opts otherwise, only those voters enrolled in one of the 4 parties are eligible to participate in the party Primary for which the voter is enrolled. For the 6/12/2018 Primary, the Green Independent Party has opted to allow Unenrolled voters to participate in its Primary.

What is an Unenrolled Voter?

A qualified resident who has registered to vote however not enrolled in one of the 4 qualified parties recognized in Maine. If a voter chooses not to enroll in one of the 4 qualified parties, they are Unenrolled.

What is an Enrolled Voter?

A qualified resident who has registered to vote and enroll in one of the 4 qualified parties recognized in Maine.

Which Ballots Will Voters Receive?

• Unenrolled Voters
  • Unenrolled voters will receive the State referendum ballot and the local school budget ballot. For the 6/12/2018 Primary, the Green Independent Party has opted to allow Unenrolled voters to participate in their Primary.
• Enrolled Voters
  • Voters enrolled in a political party will receive the Primary ballot for the party in which they are enrolled, the State referendum ballot and the local school budget ballot.

 

Are there any restrictions on changing parties?

Changing parties means a voter who is enrolled in a political party requests to change to another party.

A voter who is Unenrolled may request to enroll in a political party; this is not considered a change. 

If a voter is enrolled in a political party and they have been enrolled a minimum of 3 months, they can request to change to another party or withdraw from the party to Unenrolled. 

A change from one party to another takes 15 days to become effective, therefore a voter must go to Town Hall and complete an application to request a change no later than 4:00 p.m. on Friday, May 25 in order for the change to be effective for the June 12 Primary.

There is also a 15-day waiting period for a voter who requests to withdraw from a party; the voter is ineligible to enroll to a different party for 15 days.

If a voter is Unenrolled they may enroll in a political party anytime up and including the day of the election. Once enrolled, they must remain in the party a minimum of 3 months before they can request to withdraw back to Unenrolled or change to another party.