Election Day is a week from today and the diverse ballot issues and hard-fought local elections aren’t the only reason to head to the polls.

In addition to the excitement of entering a curtained cubicle and marking a ballot, you’ll also likely have the thrill of meeting some volunteers gathering signatures for citizen initiatives that they’re attempting to put up for a vote. (OK, maybe I’m the only one that finds democracy this enthralling.)

Before we get to items on future ballots however, let’s take one last opportunity to discuss what’s being decided on Tuesday.

Statewide, voters will be asked to vote on four ballot questions.

* On Question 1, a yes vote will keep Election Day voting registration, a no vote will get rid of it.

* On Question 2, a yes vote will pave the way for two new casinos — one in the Biddeford area, another in Washington County.

* Question 3 is also a casino referendum, with a yes vote allowing one to be built in downtown Lewiston.

* Question 4 is a constitutional amendment and perhaps the most confusing item on the ballot. A “yes” vote moves the date of legislative redistricting from the third year of every decade to the first. It’s a simple and widely-supported change.

Counties and municipalities throughout Maine will also be holding elections and referendums a week from today. In Penobscot County, for instance, voters will be asked whether they support allowing table games at Hollywood Slots in Bangor.

The most prominent local election, however, has to be the Portland mayoral race.

The position itself demands attention, as it’s a new high-profile political post in a state with few statewide elective offices. What makes the race even more interesting, however, is the way in which it’s being conducted. Rather than cast a ballot for a single candidate, voters will be asked to rank their choices and an “instant run-off” will be held among the candidates until one candidate tops 50 percent of the vote. This system used in Australia, India and Ireland, as well as in several U.S. cities, is meant to be more fair to the voters and elect leaders with a broader public mandate.

The ranked choice system will certainly be put to the test in this, its inaugural year, with 15 candidates seeking the job of mayor.

That’s enough about next week’s ballot. Let’s talk about next year’s.

The two most high profile campaigns gathering signatures this Election Day in order to place a question on the ballot in 2012 are the organizations looking to pass marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples in Maine and a new group called Maine Citizens for Clean Energy, which seeks to require Maine utilities to invest in energy efficiency and to have 20 percent of Maine power come from renewable energy sources by 2020.

The debate over equal marriage is now a well-trod road in this state. Supporters of the ballot initiative are hoping that recent shifts in public opinion on the issue and the higher voter turnout of a presidential year will lead to a more favorable result than the vote in 2009, which saw a successful People’s Veto of Maine’s equal marriage law.

A new movie may help them make their case. “Question One,” a documentary filmed from within the war rooms on both sides of the 2009 campaign, is in the process of being released and it shows some candid moments from equal marriage opponents that may hurt their case this time around. In particular, it shows 2009 campaign chairman Mark Mutty admitting that the central argument of their campaign (that lessons on gay marriage would be forced on students in Maine schools) was “not a completely accurate statement and we all know it isn’t.”

While newer, the clean energy campaign, according to EnvironmentMaine Director Emily Figdor, is “ramping up very quickly” and they’re “excited to get to work qualifying this measure for the November 2012 ballot.” The coalition backing the measure is a mix of environmental organizations and renewable energy and green construction firms.

In what may be a good sign for the proposal’s chances, earlier this year legislators voted down a proposal by Gov. Paul LePage to cut back on the requirements in existing law requiring 10 percent renewable energy by 2017.

Both campaigns have to gather at least 57,277 signatures by Jan. 30 in order to have their initiatives sent to the legislature in 2012 and potentially be placed on the ballot this time next year.

Mike Tipping is a political junkie. He writes the Tipping Point blog on Maine politics at DownEast.com, his own blog at MainePolitics.net and works for the Maine People’s Alliance and the Maine People’s Resource Center. He’s @miketipping on Twitter. Email to writebacktomike@gmail.com.

Copy the Story Link