PRIMARY ELECTIONS

Primary elections are held in Maine on the second Tuesday of June in even-numbered years. Primary elections determine each party's nomination of candidates for federal, state, and county offices. Party candidates who are nominated in the primary election appear on the general election ballot the following November. For the first time this year, Maine will be using ranked choice voting to cast ballots in the primary elections. Read more here. In addition, the Maine Secretary of State has posted a resource page on RCV, including the ballot layout for the June RCV contests.

This June, we will also be voting on at least one statewide ballot question: the people's veto to restore ranked choice voting for some future elections. You can learn more about that ballot question and read the proposed statute here.

Primary elections in Maine are "closed primaries." That is, you must be enrolled in a party to vote in the primary on nominations for candidates to represent that party in the general election. You do not need to be enrolled in a party to vote on a statewide ballot question.

Maine currently has four qualified parties:

 Libertarian Party of Maine  Maine Democratic Party  Maine Green Independent Party  Maine Republican Party

The following offices will be on the ballot in the 2018 primary election:

 U.S. Senator  Representative to Congress (both districts)  Governor  State Senate districts  State Representative districts  County offices, depending on the county: Judge of Probate, Register of Probate, County Treasurer, Register of Deeds, Sheriff, District Attorney and County Commissioner.

A list of candidates and addition information is available from the Secretary of State.