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Actual Vote in Maine

Poll tapes posted inside, or at closing time only

Information current as of October 2026

This page explains how to use the Actual Vote app in Maine for the next election. New to Actual Vote? Start here to learn what it is and why it matters.

Maine posts unofficial results — with a catch — and, better, lets you watch the count. The posting law (21-A M.R.S. § 700) says that after the return is prepared, “if a secure place is available at the voting place or municipal office where the public may view a paper copy of the unofficial election results even when the voting place or municipal office is closed, an election official shall post a paper copy.” Three soft spots: it only applies if such a secure place exists, the copy may go at the town office rather than the poll, and no duration is set. The dependable right is the count itself: ballots must be “counted publicly so that those present may observe,” and the warden “shall declare the results publicly” (§ 695). So you have the option of recording with the Actual Vote app — by video-recording a posted sheet where one exists, or by being present for the public count and the spoken declaration. Ranked-choice races post first-choice totals locally; the full results come from the Secretary of State after certification.

Your participation is powerful: you join a nationwide team whose recordings get compared, tape-by-tape, against the officially reported results — an independent check on vote reporting, which is vulnerable to error and fraud. We haven’t published an Actual Vote analysis from Maine yet, but see what a team achieved in the 2024 North Carolina primary. The process is legal and next-to-impossible to abuse for partisan gain: everything on a poll tape is already public.

Poll closing time in Maine: 8 p.m. Anyone still in line at closing time is entitled to vote, so the closing procedure — and the tape — can run later.

Get the app How Actual Vote works See an example analysis

This information was compiled using AI-assisted internet research along with some calls to election offices and word-of-mouth tips. It reflects America Counts’s best knowledge of how to access poll tapes in Maine as of October 2026, but it cannot be guaranteed 100% accurate. The best way to be sure about accessing poll tapes in your area is to call your local elections office and ask — see below for ready-to-use scripts.

If your experience or knowledge of poll-tape procedure in Maine is different from what we show here, please contact us and let us know — we update these pages as we learn more.

Your ways to participate in Maine

See how the six ways to help compare →

  1. 1

    Record posted tapes at polling placesNot available in Maine

    Maine doesn’t post the tape outside the polling place, so the election-night route is being there at the close (use case 2).

  2. 2

    Watch the public count and record the results

    In Maine the ballots “must be counted publicly so that those present may observe,” and the warden declares the results aloud at the voting place. A 2025 law allows photography and video in the voting place from outside the guardrail and at least 15 feet from any voter. Where the town has a secure place, a paper copy of the unofficial results is posted too, sometimes at the town office instead of the poll. Be there at the 8 p.m. close and record the results with the Actual Vote app. Realistically about one location a night.

    See a detailed example of how to make a plan to visit polling places on election night based in Broward County, Florida.

  3. 3

    Record early-voting tapes

    In Maine, absentee ballots cast in person are fed into the polling-place tabulator on election day, so they’re on the polling-place tally tape (use case 2), and the count is public (21-A M.R.S. § 852). The warden may run an extra copy of the tape to post; ask your clerk in advance. In 2024 about 19% of ballots were cast early in person (EAC election survey).

    See a detailed example of recording early-voting tapes, based on Cobb County, Georgia.

  4. 4

    Become a poll worker or observer

    Working the polls or serving as an appointed observer puts you right at the source — the earliest point in the chain of custody, and the clearest view of the count and the tape.

    See more details about Actual Vote for poll workers or observers.

    Sign up to be a poll worker →

  5. 5

    Visit or book an appointment at your county elections office

    Election offices can often provide many precincts’ tapes at once — a great way to cover a whole county on your own schedule.

    Email/phone script — book an appointment at your Maine county elections office
    To: [your county] County elections office
    Re: Appointment to view and record precinct results tapes

    Hello, and thank you for your work. My name is [name]. My friends and I use Actual Vote, an app from America Counts, a non-partisan election transparency organization — we video-record poll tapes and compare them to the official results as an independent double-check.

    We’d like to request an appointment to view and video-record the certified precinct results tapes (summary statements) from the [date] election — Election Day, absentee/by-mail, and early voting — for [all precincts / the following precincts: ____]. [Preferred date and window] would work, but we’re flexible and happy to follow any rules your office sets.

    Everything on these tapes is public records under the Maine Freedom of Access Act (1 M.R.S. § 408-A), and already public, so all we’d need is the tapes and a place to work. Thank you for considering it. — [name], [contact]

    Offices are busiest right before certification — offering a flexible window (and to start with a few precincts) makes a yes easier. See the full worked example for more.

    See a detailed example of how to do this.

  6. 6

    File a public-records request for poll-tape images

    Poll tapes are public records under the Maine Freedom of Access Act. You can request digital copies by precinct and voting method — available in every state, though it captures the tapes later in the chain of custody.

    Public-records request email — Maine poll-tape images
    To: [your town/city] Clerk's Office
    Re: Public records request — [election, e.g. November 5, 2024 General Election] results, [your town/city]

    Dear [Town/City] Clerk,

    Under the Maine Freedom of Access Act, 1 M.R.S. § 408-A, I'm requesting copies of public election data — specifically the unofficial election-results report (also called a "tally sheet" or "poll tape") posted, or otherwise prepared, at the close of the count, meeting the following criteria:

    • From Maine's [election, e.g. November 5, 2024 General Election]
    • From all voting places in [your town/city]
    • For Election Day (in-person) voting, plus absentee ballots, which I understand are commingled and counted at the same tally in most Maine municipalities
    • The report showing candidate-by-candidate vote totals — I don't need the zero or configuration tapes, though including them is fine
    • If for any combination above no ballots were cast (so no report exists), simply omit it

    If the race was decided by ranked-choice voting, I understand the election-night report reflects first-choice totals only, with later rounds tabulated centrally by the Secretary of State — first-choice totals are what I'm after here.

    Digital scans (emailed or via a download link, in any common format such as .pdf or .jpg) would be ideal; physical copies for pickup or mail are also fine. These are public records, and the totals they show are already in the official published results. They'll be used for legitimate, non-partisan vote-reporting auditing with Actual Vote, an app from America Counts, a non-partisan election transparency organization — you can see exactly how it works, and why it's non-partisan, at Start Here.

    If you must redact anything beyond precinct name, voting method, and results totals, please go ahead. If you deny any part of this request, please cite the specific exemption and let me know the appeal options under the law. Please also tell me of any fee in advance — I request a fee waiver, as this analysis is in the public interest, contributes to election transparency, and is not for any commercial purpose.

    Because our analysis is most useful before results are certified, I'd be grateful for the data within about a week if possible; if you expect a delay, just let me know when to expect it.

    Thank you for considering this request. — [name], [email/phone]

    See a detailed example of how to do this.

Example Actual Vote Recordings

We don’t have any recordings from Maine yet — you could be the first! Here are some example poll tape videos by Actual Vote users in other states. America Counts compares the vote totals on each poll tape video to the official results to double-check the accuracy of the vote reporting. See this report from North Carolina in 2022 for an example.

Recordings live in the public Actual Vote Video Archive.

How we know this — and how you can check it

This reflects America Counts’s primary-source review of Maine’s election statutes and Secretary of State guidance, most recently updated in October 2026; the summary at the top of this page and the early-voting card link the provisions it relies on. Procedures can still vary locally, so the surest way to confirm what applies at your polling place or elections office is to call them directly. Found something different? Tell us and we’ll verify it and fix the page.

Find your county's election website

County sites carry polling locations and local contact information. Search "[your county], Maine elections" if a link 404s.

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Join the nationwide team independently double-checking how votes are reported — starting in Maine.

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