Local election officials bracing for record voter turnouts

Absentee balloting is way above any recent election in the Northern Seacoast, and town clerks in Rochester, Milton and Lebanon are bracing for record turnouts on Tuesday.
In Lebanon about 870 absentee ballots have been collected, said Town Clerk Dale Fisk today. That's about 30 percent of the total vote for president in 2012, when about 2,800 Lebanon residents voted for either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney.
In the gubernatorial election in 2014 about 3,500 voted.
In Milton, Town Clerk Michelle Beauchamp said today they've gotten about 125 early ballots, which she characterized as "a lot more" than in any other recent presidential election.
Beauchamp said there are now about 3,100 registered voters in Milton, where about 2,200 voted for president in 2012..
Election officials in Maine and New Hampshire are predicting turnouts of 70 percent or even more.
"We know we're going to get it," Rochester City Clerk Kelly Walters said today. "In 2008 we had 70 percent turnout and we're expecting that much if not more."
Walters said each of Rochester's six wards have added up to 400-500 new voters to the some 19,000 already registered.
With the massive increase in voters and more expected to register on Election Day, Walters said election officials are counting on a large number of volunteers to help with processing same-day requests for registering to vote.
New Hampshire voters looking to register at the polls on Election Day will need a government issued ID, plus proof they live in New Hampshire.
Out of state IDs will require an affidavit that they domicile here and voting officials will document all out-of-state photo ID used to register, Walters noted.
Meanwhile, both New Hampshire and Maine have set up hotlines for those who want to report possible voter fraud or voting rights complaints.
The New Hampshire Attorney General's toll free election line phone number is: 1-866-868-3703 (1-866-VOTER03) This phone line will be staffed from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. Inquiries and complaints may also be submitted via e-mail at electionlaw@doj.nh.gov. Information regarding voting rights may be obtained by visiting the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office website at http://doj.nh.gov/sitemap/voters.htm.
Also in New Hampshire, the United States Attorney's election line phone number is: (603) 230-2503. This phone line will be staffed from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. Inquiries and complaints may also be submitted through the United States Attorney's Web site at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nh by clicking on the "e-mail us" link. A Federal Election Fraud Fact Sheet that explains what triggers federal criminal jurisdiction in connection with elections and voting rights can also be found on the United States Attorney's Web site, www.justice.gov/usao-nh.
In Maine, In order to respond to complaints of election fraud or voting rights abuses on Election Day and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II stated that personnel will be on duty in his office while the polls are open. They can be reached by the public at the following telephone numbers: (207) 771-3214 (AUSA John Osborn) and (207) 262-4615 (AUSA Andrew McCormack).
The principal Maine FBI field office can be reached by the public at (207) 774-9322.
Assistant Attoney General Phyllis Gardiner may be contacted at the Attorney General's Office by calling: (207) 626-8880. Deputy Secretary of State Flynn can be reached at (207) 624-7650. Attorney Zachary Heiden of the ACLU of Maine will be available at (207) 650-9535.
Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division's Voting Section in Washington, DC by phone at 1-800-253-3931 or (202) 307-2767, by fax at (202) 307-3961, by email to voting.section@usdoj.gov or by complaint form at http://www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/votintake/index.php.