Low voter turnout Tuesday made it difficult to project the outcome of a $50 million bond that was the sole measure on the statewide ballot.
The bond issue called for the Maine Technology Institute to distribute $45 million in grants for upgrades in aquaculture, marine technology, forestry and agriculture. The Small Enterprise Growth Fund would direct the remaining $5 million to qualifying small businesses in fields including marine sciences, biotechnology and manufacturing.
Bond proposal spokesman Mike Saxl said he anticipated voter turnout of 10 percent or less. He said the low turnout made it virtually impossible to predict the outcome even though Maine residents generally favor bond proposals.
Clerks have three days to report their unofficial tallies to the Secretary of State’s Office.
The bond had strong support in Greater Portland.
Portland voters supported the proposal 80 percent to 20 percent. South Portland supported the bond 74 percent to 26 percent. Biddeford supported the bond 65 percent to 35 percent.
The election went smoothly for the most part. But a bomb threat at the high school where voting was taking place in Lincoln forced the evacuation of voters for a short time.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.