KINGFIELD – Though it is clear where residents of Salem Township will go to cast their votes Tuesday, which ballot they will receive is not so cut-and-dry.
When the state designated new legislative districts for this election, the unorganized territory of under 300 residents was split in half. All Salem residents will go to the polls in Kingfield but the township has been separated into two legislative districts – 90 and 91.
Jean Oberton, Kingfield town clerk, has been busy distributing absentee ballots to residents who want to vote early. Approximately 90 people have already voted out of about 1,000 registered voters, she said.
It’s been confusing for Salem residents – those who live on the south side of Route 142 will vote in District 90, the race between Thomas Saviello and Roger Lambert, while residents on the north side of the road will be choosing between Arlan Jodrey and Timothy Carter in District 91.
But it isn’t quite that simple.
District 90 extends across to the north side of Route 142 where the West Branch Carrabassett River meets it and continues northeast along the river “until it intersects with Orchard Road,” according the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions Web site. Problem is, people, including the town clerk and Kingfield town manager, are not quite clear as to where Orchard Road is.
After examining and comparing several maps, including ones lacking this level of detail on the bureau’s site, it was determined using a DeLorme atlas and DeLorme’s Topo USA, that what the bureau is calling Orchard Road is actually called Howard Road until it splits off to Prairie Road, the next border in the bureau’s written description of the district. It is at this point that Howard Road becomes Orchard. To add to the confusion, it appears Prairie Road, used to be known as Blueberry Road according to Oberton and Kingfield Town Manager John Dill.
April Grant, a Salem resident, said she doesn’t really get involved in politics but that people in the township “think it’s a mess.”
“The politicians are screwing things up royally,” she said Friday.
And if that weren’t enough, though all voters from nearby Freeman Township will be voting in District 90, most are expected to cast their ballots in Kingfield. Some, however, have been designated to vote in Strong.
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