Portland, Bangor, Augusta courts to stay open late Tuesday in case of emergency election filings

Maine courthouses in Portland, Bangor and Augusta will stay open until 9 p.m. Tuesday to accept emergency filings related to the election, according to a release from the Maine Judicial Branch. 

The announcement comes as several Maine cities expect federal election monitors at the polls and numerous lawsuits in federal court across the country continue to develop in the final few days before the midterms. 

The Maine Judicial Branch said a judge, clerk and marshal will be on duty at each courthouse to accept and act on any emergency filings. 

Maine Superior Court Chief Justice Robert Mullen and Maine District Court Chief Judge Brent Davis also issued an order Thursday that all filings pertaining to the election must be filed with paper documents at a clerk’s office, not through the state’s electronic filing system. 

Paper filings will be immediately reviewed by the clerk and directed to the appropriate judge for timely review. The judicial branch is also urging filers to include cell phone numbers on any filings, so that they can be reached after hours. 

All public documents related to election filings will then be posted on the judicial branch’s high-profile cases webpage, as soon as possible. 

A spokesperson for the Maine Secretary of State’s Office said the courts have always been open and available to the office until polls close on Election Day.

“We appreciate the partnership with the courts to ensure that every voter’s constitutional right to vote is protected,” the spokesperson said in an email.

The state court plans come as federal courts across the country continue to consider a bevy of lawsuits related to the Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to combat noncitizen voting and assert authority over elections, as Democrats and voting rights groups allege federal election interference.

Election monitors 

The U.S. Department of Justice will also send election monitors to South Portland, the Secretary of State’s Office confirmed Friday. 

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said last week that election monitors will also be in Portland and Lewiston. 

The Department of Justice has in recent years sent observers to other states on a smaller scale, usually in response to a civil rights violation. But this comes amid the Trump administration’s efforts to assert authority over the election and following an attempt to force Maine, among other states, to hand over voter information.

“Any monitors are subject to the same laws and rules as any other observer at the poll,” Bellows told Maine Morning Star last week. “That means they can observe what’s taking place, but they may not interact with voters, handle ballots or equipment, or disrupt voting in any way.” 

“We will monitor the monitors very carefully to ensure that they don’t cross any lines,” Bellows added.

South Portland mayor Elyse Tipton told Maine Morning Star about a meeting held Thursday where the city learned that election observers would be at their polling places from 7 a.m. until polls close.

The Department of Justice let city staff know the observers would be in plainclothes, she said, but she did not know why South Portland had been chosen in addition to the state’s two largest cities.

It’s a small piece of the federal agency’s plan to send 1,000 monitors to locations in all 50 states, DOJ spokesperson Kiersten Pels told States Newsroom on Monday. 

The Justice Department for decades has deployed monitors across the country to watch the voting process. During President Joe Biden’s administration, the DOJ sent monitors to 64 jurisdictions across 24 states for the 2022 midterm elections.

Maine Morning Star Senior Reporter Eesha Pendharkar contributed to this report.