Update, via Portland Press Herald

2:50 p.m.

Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap says he now expects more than 50 percent of Mainers would vote by the time polls close today.

By 2:30 p.m. Dunlap had visited polls in Portland, Old town, Augusta and Lewiston and revised his earlier estimate, based on absentee ballot returns, that 35 percent of Maine’s voters would turn out. He said it was obvious that people were show up at the polls.

“You see a lot of feet underneath the curtains,” said Dunlap.

Dunlap said he is fielding calls from media outlets around the country that are focusing on the same-sex marriage ballot question.

3:15PM update- Bangor Daily News Results, total and by county

2:30PM update- high turnouts reported in Farmington, Bangor, Brunswick, Saco, York, Portland and UMaine Orono campus.

Even our lil hometown, per Charlie, is VERY high! 1100 so far (including absentee)- we’ve got maybe 2400 registered voters at most!

And we’ve still got 5 1/2 hrs left until polls close.

Correction: Portland LOW, per one source. So will be looking into this.

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GET UPDATES FROM THE CAMPAIGN VIA THEIR SITE, starting at 8pm tonight.

First thing, Secretary of State Matt Dunlap grossly underestimated the numbers of voters! We could well break the record for an off-year election of 50.9%, all due to GOTV efforts.

Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap now says voter turnout could be 50 percent rather than 35 percent.

More than 100,000 absentee ballots already have been returned to town clerks’ offices, and more than 10,000 are still outstanding. The absentee ballots will be counted after the polls close.

Saco is on pace to have a 55% turnout!

Portland is busy…– Bangor also had lines of people waiting, as many as 50 at 7am, per WCSH6.

Voters line up by the dozens to cast their vote on election day.

Poll workers at the First Baptist Curch in Portland reported a steady stream of residents eager to do their civic duty as soon as the polls opened at 7:00 a.m. Many voters we spoke to say question one – the same sex marriage referendum issue, was what brought them to the polls.

From ElsieElsie comes this link regarding far southern Maine:

YORK – Turn out was heavy at the York polls on Tuesday, about 200 voters an hour, according to Town Clerk Mary-Anne Szeniawski.

Szeniawski said she believed by the time the polls closed at 8 p.m., York would have a turn-out rate of 50 to 60 percent of registered voters.

At least 30 percent of York’s 10,800 registered voters cast ballot by absentee. The town clerk’s office issues 3,300 absentee ballots for the Nov. 4 referendum, which is “huge,” Szeniawski said.

Szeniawski believes Question 1, whether to repeal same sex marriage, got people out to vote, either in person or by absentee.

Below the fold, more info (to be updated) and rumors…Farmington (big branch of University of Maine up there!) reporting high

Supposedly MSNBC’s Countessa Brewer is in Maine, as is HRC’s Joe Solmonese, who just spoke with Andrea Mitchell.

(I know he’s a New Englander and all, but it burns my butt that Mitchell is interviewing HIM as “the face” of this battle in Maine!)

Oh well…