The Maine Referendum Election will be held next Tuesday, November 2. There are three statewide questions on the ballot, as well as local elections for Town Council and School Board. Bowdoin Votes will be running shuttles to the polls—located at Brunswick Junior High School—every 15 minutes from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Moulton Circle.

Early voting for the local ballot election began on October 11 at the Brunswick town clerk’s office. College housing is split between four of Brunswick’s seven districts and therefore must vote according to the district their housing is located in.

The first statewide referendum question on the ballot is in regards to the construction of high-impact transmission lines in Kennebec. Voting yes on this question would stop the construction of the New England Clean Energy Connect corridor (“CMP corridor”) and raise the legislative threshold to 2/3rds of Maine representatives to develop on public land rather than a simple majority. While voting no on this question would allow the CMP corridor to continue as planned.

This is a highly contentious issue; WMTV hosted a debate last Wednesday in regards to this issue to allow both sides to publicly argue their case. They debated on the economic impact of the corridor and its environmental impacts.

The second statewide referendum question on the ballot asks if you’re in favor of a $100,000,000 bond issue to improve infrastructure. Voting yes on this question would support this bond for improving roads, bridges, railroads, airports, transit facilities and ports throughout the state of Maine. Voting no on the question is against the state of Maine agreeing to this bond.

The final statewide referendum question on the ballot asks for the support to amend the Constitution of Maine to declare that “all individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being.” A yes vote would amend the constitution to include this right while a no vote would not change the state constitution.

In the municipal election, Daniel J. Ankeles is running to represent districts 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 unopposed in the Brunswick Town Council. He’s been a legislative aid in the Maine House Majority Office for eleven years and has been on the town council at large for three years.

Joy Prescott is running to represent districts 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 unopposed in the Brunswick School Board. She’s a project manager at Stantec Consulting in Topsham and is running for an at-large position for the Brunswick School Board.