Polling stations throughout Maine opened Tuesday morning in anticipation of a busy day driven by presidential primary races.

Polls opened as early as 6 a.m. in some communities or, like in South Portland, an hour later.

At 7 a.m. sharp Tuesday, workers pushed open the door to the gymnasium of the South Portland Community Center where four people were waiting to enter.

“We have some excited voters who were here bright and early,” said Jon Hartford, the election warden monitoring the polls at the center. 

Mainers will be weighing in on the presidential primary, and this is the first primary in Maine open to unenrolled voters. It is widely expected that November’s presidential race will ultimately come down to President Joe Biden vs. former President Donald Trump, but Hartford said that doesn’t deter voters.

“There’s definitely some excitement for the presidential primary,” he said. “I’m hoping for a good turnout, but you never know. Some people think it’s a foregone conclusion, but a lot of others don’t, so we really hope to see a lot of voters here today.”

Voters in South Portland aren’t just showing up for the primary. A special election will also decide who will fill the House District 122 seat, after Rep. Lois Galgay Reckitt passed away in October 2023.

The special election is a three-way race between Democrat Matthew Beck and unenrolled challengers Tristram Howard and Brendan Williams. 

The South Portland Community Center covers voting for South Portland’s District 3 and 4, making it the largest polling location in the city. Hartford said in a big election year, the center will easily get “several thousand” voters, which he anticipates in November. 

Early Tuesday morning, voters were trickling in one or two at a time. When asked how much of a turnout Hartford would get today, he shrugged and said, “We’ll see.”