Election reforms worked smoothly, city clerk reports

BANGOR – For the most part, residents were “very positive” about the election reform measures the city implemented last year, City Clerk Patti Dubois reported Thursday to members of the City Council’s finance committee.

Despite concerns about long lines and voter confusion, the city’s consolidated voting procedures seem to have resulted in few problems, she said.

The changes in city election procedures – which included cutting the number of polling places from eight to four and offering residents special early voting hours at the Bangor Civic Center – were given a test run during the June primary elections.

They went into full effect with the November gubernatorial election, which coincided with the City Council and school committee elections.

“Overall, I think the comments [from voters] were very positive,” Dubois said. “We had very little negative feedback.” Elections, she said, “went very smoothly.

“There is some room for improvement, of course,” she said, adding that one tweak she might make is to staff the civic center for early voting for two weeks instead of three.

The changes were recommended by a citizens panel Dubois put together.

“I think we have at least contained costs and provided a better service to the city,” Nick Bearce, one of the residents who served on the panel, said. “Not everyone was happy, but I think that the majority was.”

Election volunteer Judith Boothby, who also served, agreed, adding that she thought it was wise to give the changes a trial run in June so that there was time to work out bugs before the November onslaught.

Councilor Patricia Blanchette, who also represents the city in the state House of Representatives, sits on the Legislature’s Elections Committee, which has had to deal with recounts and other problems in recent months.

“You people have to know that without a doubt, Bangor has one of the smoothest operating election systems in the state,” she said. She credited the lack of major problems to attention to detail and willingness to work long hours.

In an unofficial election postmortem in November, Dubois reported that the only backup the city experienced was during the 5 p.m. rush, when many voters were getting out of work. Extra city employees were sent to the polls to help.

In addition, results reporting went high-tech. The results of the November state and city elections were posted on the city’s Web site, at www.bangormaine.gov, by about 9:45 p.m. Election Day, less than two hours after the polls closed.

In contrast, election results in 2004 weren’t available until the next day, in large part because absentee ballots still were being counted.

Dubois thinks the increasing popularity of absentee, or early, voting played a role in the early finish.

Because absentee ballots were processed at all four sites throughout the day, final tallies were available much earlier than for past major elections.

In Bangor, the percentage of voters who choose to cast their votes early continues to climb.