Nomination paper deadline approaching

  HOULTON, Maine — Registered Houlton voters who want their name on the Nov. 2 local election ballot have a deadline this week.
Offices with vacancies
Cathy O’Leary, warden of the election, registrar of voters and town clerk, said Friday, Sept. 10 is the last day a candidate’s name will be eligible to be printed on the ballot for the following offices: Houlton Town Council (two vacancies); SAD 29 (two vacancies); Board of Budget Review (three vacancies); Houlton Water Company Board of Directors (two vacancies); and Cary Library Board of Trustees (one vacancy).
Getting on the ballot
O’Leary said in order to get one’s name printed on the ballot, the candidate must be a registered Houlton voter, get 85 signatures of registered Houlton voters on a nomination petition and return the petition to the town office by Friday for verification.
Write-in candidates
There is, however, an option to be a write-in candidate if a registered Houlton voter signs up at the town office by Sept. 17. “If a person is interested in being a write-in, it doesn’t put their name on the ballot but it allows us on the night of the election to count their votes if they have expressed the interest to be a write-in,” said O’Leary. She added that “when we post ballots for the public to see, it will list, at that time, the names of people who have indicated an interest to be write-in candidates. But, they are not printed on the ballot.”
Voter turnout sometimes is light for off-year or mid-term elections. But, O’Leary thinks when Nov. 2 rolls around, the polls will be full of activity due to the gubernatorial race. “It will be because of the governor. It will be a busy election.”