Presidential primary election turnout low in Lewiston, Auburn

Mar. 5—LEWISTON — The results seemed inevitable, but the number of voters deciding to cast a ballot in the presidential primary election was extremely low in Lewiston and Auburn on Tuesday.

While it was no surprise that President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump were quickly declared winners in several states after polls closed, the vote tallies in both Lewiston and Auburn were far below those of previous primary elections.

Auburn saw roughly half the turnout it had in 2020, with a total of 2,006 voters casting ballots. Both Biden and Trump won the primary votes in the city.

In Lewiston, the turnout was less than half of 2020's total, with 2,326 ballots cast, representing an 8.7% turnout. The tallies went handily to Biden and Trump as well.

Only 609 people voted absentee prior to Tuesday, which City Clerk Kathleen Montejo saw as an indicator of how things might look when the night was over.

Maine was one of 15 states to conduct primary elections on "Super Tuesday." For the first time, voters who were unenrolled as of Tuesday were able to select either the Democratic or Republican party ballot and cast their vote.

The Democratic ballot featured President Biden and Dean Phillips, while the Republican ballot included Ryan Binkley, Ron Desantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and former President Trump.

The low turnout could be explained by a lack of major Democratic challengers to President Biden, or continued polling that has shown both Biden and Trump to be deeply unpopular.

By 2 p.m. in Auburn, 825 people had cast their vote. City Clerk Sue Clements-Dallaire said four years ago, in 2020, more than 4,100 people voted in the primary.

The mayors of both cities didn't seem surprised by the quiet day at the polls.

Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline, a Democrat, voted around 9 a.m. Tuesday at Longley School, where he said turnout appeared light.

"But that's not unexpected given the dynamics of this primary," he said. "We definitely weren't close to running out of pens."

Auburn Mayor Jeff Harmon, also a Democrat, said he voted mid-morning, and there were a few people at the polls.

"It seems that many people are not turning out to vote as they think the nominees are a foregone conclusion," he said. "With nothing else on the ballot I was expecting a below average turnout."

In 2020, a total of 5,962 Lewiston voters turned out for the Democratic and Republican primaries, with a total turnout of 7,145 due to the "people's veto" referendum question.

According to the Lewiston City Clerk's office, 26,660 Lewiston residents were eligible to vote in the primary. Of that number, 12,049 are enrolled in the Democratic Party; 5,774 in the Republican Party; and 8,837 are unenrolled. The Green-Independent Party, Libertarian Party and No Labels Party has a combined 2,815 voters, but those voters were not eligible to vote Tuesday because their parties did not present candidates.

Enrolled voters did not have the option to select another party's ballot unless they unenrolled or changed enrollment on or before Feb. 16, because voters must remain in a party for three months before changing parties or unenrolling.

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