Maine Democrats can vote from home for the delegates who will pick Platner’s replacement

Every registered Democrat in Maine will be able to vote in upcoming county caucuses for delegates who will choose Graham Platner’s replacement as the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. They don’t have to attend this weekend’s county meetings virtually or in person to vote.

Because of the heightened interest in participating — and the importance of voting following the fatal shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero on Monday — the Maine Democratic Party is allowing all verified voters to cast their ballots securely from home, and extending the deadline to register.

More than 11,000 Democrats have already been pre-verified by the state party to vote in county meetings, including nearly 4,000 Maine Democrats seeking to serve as delegates, according to the announcement.

“This voting process has been envisioned from the start, and is even more important given this week’s violence and continued threats to our most vulnerable communities,” the party said in an announcement Thursday evening.

The party had initially set a deadline of 5 p.m. Thursday for interested voters to pre-register. But “in recognition of the safety concerns within our state, we wanted to provide more time to ensure that as many voters were able to participate in this process as possible,” Maine Democratic Party Chair Devon Murphy-Anderson said in a statement.

“This is about making sure every voter has a fair opportunity to participate in choosing our nominee,” she added.

County Democrats will select their delegates during virtual or in-person meetings scheduled for July 18 and 19. The number of delegates each county will send to the state convention varies widely, from 149 in Cumberland County to four in Piscataquis County.

The party has until July 27 to choose the replacement for Platner who dropped out of the race last week amid sexual assault allegations, which he has denied. On July 25, the party will host a convention about a third the size of its annual conventions to choose among the 12 candidates who intend to run, the party said. That convention will include 601 delegates.

Most of the candidates vying to replace Platner and challenge U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in November have publicly spoken out against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and many have attended protests across the state throughout the week. During their first debate Thursday evening, all of the candidates stressed the importance of reform and highlighted Collins’ role in voting for a $70 billion budget increase for ICE and U.S. Border Patrol.