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The UMaine Won’t Discriminate campaign celebrated its victory Tuesday night in the basement of Pat’s Pizza. About 30 people who worked on the ‘No’ on 1 campaign showed up once the polls closed and waited to hear the news.
Sarah Bigney, a junior at the University of Maine, said she e-mailed a graduate student, Matthew Small, before the start of the school year concerning Question 1 on the fall ballot. He was quick to respond and agree to help lead a campaign that ended at a college bar on election night.
“For me, it was just a natural fit to fight for my rights or any other Mainer’s this fall,” said Small. “It’s never been a question of ‘should we do this.’ It’s always been ‘we have to do this.”
For Bigney and Small, their efforts ended the way they had hoped. When the final results came in, the ‘No’ on 1 campaign had won the support of 55 percent of the vote, including 88 percent of the students on campus who voted.
State Rep. Emily Cain, D-Orono, who is a UMaine graduate, was also on hand at the victory celebration Tuesday night. She was happy to announce the first results that came in just before 9 p.m. Cain told students that 682 people voted ‘yes’ in Orono, but over 2,300 Orono residents voted ‘no,’ drawing a roar from the crowd.
Cain also noted that 790 out of the 971 students who voted on campus voted ‘no.’
“No matter what the end game is tonight, you did this,” Cain said to the students.
Small also addressed the crowd once he heard Cain’s local results.
“My goal was 1,000 all along,” he said of the 971 students who voted on campus. “That’s pretty darn close.”
Bigney noted that just over 1,700 students voted last year in the presidential election. She said that the numbers this year were impressive for a no-nelection year.
“The only reason we succeeded is because we had volunteers,” said Bigney. “No matter what happens tonight, we did our part.”
Small also said that with the absentee votes factored in, the student vote on campus will be over 1,000.
Bigney said she was calm when she arrived at the restaurant after leaving the polls, but her calm state of mind did not last.
“I was calm before,” she said when she saw the results come in on the big-screen television on Channel 2. “I guess I knew. I’m not calm. I’m psyched.”
While turnout was strong on campus, poll workers in both Orono and Old Town said the turnout was fairly strong for a nonelection year there as well. Cain, who is in her first term in the Legislature, said that a record number of people voted both in Orono and on campus for a nonelection year.
She compared her efforts on this campaign to the campaign she ran last fall to win a seat in Augusta.
“It’s like a roller-coaster ride. There are peaks and valleys in any of these campaigns,” she said. “I met students today that were so apathetic of voting it made me want to scream, but then I met students who couldn’t wait to go to the polls, and it was their first time voting, and I’m focusing on those students. I’m focusing on the peaks. I’m focusing on the highs.”
Cain was not the only legislator who was happy with Tuesday’s results.
“I am thrilled that the people of Maine validated the will of the Legislature and kept the Civil Rights Law in force,” said Beth Edmonds, president of the State Senate, in a statement. “This is a giant step showing that Maine people believe they must not discriminate against their neighbors, regardless of sexual orientation.”
Mainers passed questions 2, 3, 4 and 5, but voted down Question 6, which was a bond issue concerning University of Maine System building renovations. The passage of questions 2 through 5 approved funding for improvements to highway and water systems. It also raised funding for economic growth and land purchase easements.
“Also, it is inspiring to see that Maine people approved most of the bond issues,” said Edmonds. “I’m especially pleased to see the economic development bond, which includes the New Century Program to improve our cultural resources, passed. I hope the higher education bond will also pass because Maine needs a quality university system as the backbone for growing jobs in our state.”
Maine citizens also overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment concerning waterfront assessment with 72 percent of the vote.
Results:
On Campus
Turnout: 971
Question 1
Gay Rights Veto
19% 181 Yes
81% 790 No
Statewide
Question 1
Gay Rights Veto
45% 183,109 Yes
55% 224,884 No
Question 2
Transportation Bond
68% 272,411 Yes
32% 130,922 No
Question 3
Environmental Bond
58% 230,596 Yes
42% 167,640 No
Question 4
Economic Bond
58% 233,853 Yes
42% 166,471 No
Question 5
Conservation Bond
65% 260,558
35% 141,499 No
Question 6
Education Bond
49.70% 194,649 Yes
50.30% 197,005 No
Question 7
Fishing Amendment
72% 277,549 Yes
28% 110,272 No
