The short version.
A plain-language guide to how county ballot access works in all 16 Maine counties. Maine is the rare state where, in the middle of August of an election year, there is still a real door open. The regular filing windows for November 3, 2026 are shut: primary petitions were due at the Secretary of State's office by 5 p.m. on Monday, March 16, the primary was held Tuesday, June 9, and non-party petitions closed at 5 p.m. on Monday, June 1. But Maine lets you declare as a write-in candidate up to the 70th day before the election, and for 2026 that is 5 p.m. on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. There is no filing fee, there are no signatures to gather, and in a Maine general election a write-in wins on a plurality. One vote more than anyone else and the office is yours.
Maine's county offices are unusually numerous for a small state and unusually easy to enter. A county fills seven kinds of elected office: County Commissioner, Sheriff, District Attorney, Judge of Probate, Register of Probate, Register of Deeds and County Treasurer. All are 4-year terms, all are voted on at the November general election in even years, and none of them costs a filing fee anywhere in Maine. What they cost is signatures, and a county commissioner petition is the cheapest county race in the state at fifty to seventy-five names. The one thing that trips people up is where the paperwork goes. Maine does not run elections at the county level at all; towns and cities do, and candidate filings go to the Secretary of State. Getting on the ballot is a two-step process: the registrar or clerk of each municipality certifies the signatures of its own residents first, and only then does the petition get filed with the Secretary of State in Augusta.
This page covers that for York County and points you at your local election office for anything specific to your county. It is not legal advice; the official rules live with your election office and the Maine Division of Elections.
York County by the numbers.
- In 2024, York County cast 132,838 votes for president: 43.8% Republican, 54.3% Democratic.
The campaigns that win the field are the ones who start building their list of supporters and volunteers before qualifying even opens, not after. Motion51 is ready to load your York County voter file the moment you send it over, so you can start finding your people now.
Key Maine dates.
Still open for the November 3, 2026 ballot, and it closes on Tuesday
The non-party nomination petition closed on June 1 -- which in Maine falls BEFORE the June primary, not after it. One door is left, it is free, it needs no signatures, and it shuts at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, August 25.
- Tue Aug 25, 2026, 5:00 p.m. DECLARATION OF WRITE-IN CANDIDACY for a county office, filed with the Secretary of State (21-A M.R.S. sec. 722-A(1), the 70th day before the election). No signatures, no fee. The form is not downloadable -- you must request it by emailing the Division of Elections.
- Tue Aug 25, 2026, 5:00 p.m. For a TOWN office the declaration goes to the MUNICIPAL CLERK instead, and only in towns that voted to adopt sec. 722-A. File in the wrong place and it does not exist. In towns that did not adopt it, undeclared write-ins are still counted in limited circumstances (30-A M.R.S. sec. 2501(3)).
- Mon Jun 1, 2026, 5:00 p.m. Non-party nomination petitions -- CLOSED (21-A M.R.S. sec. 354(8-A)).
- Mon Jul 27, 2026, 5:00 p.m. Party committee replacement nominations -- CLOSED (sec. 374-A(2)(A)).
In Maine a write-in vote for someone who has not filed the declaration is not a long shot, it is legally uncountable: sec. 696(2)(E) says the vote may not be counted. The declaration costs nothing and takes no signatures, and for an unopposed county seat it turns an impossible race into a winnable one -- but it is a hard 5 p.m. wall and it is the last door in the building.
2028 is the next county ballot
A Maine county office means judge of probate, register of probate, county treasurer, register of deeds, sheriff, district attorney or county commissioner (21-A M.R.S. sec. 1(11)). Which of them appears in which year is genuinely per-county -- register of probate is mostly a 2028 office, treasurer and register of deeds mostly 2026, and some charter counties appoint rather than elect. Read the Secretary of State's county grid for your own county.
- Wed Mar 15, 2028, 5:00 p.m. COMPUTED primary petition deadline (21-A M.R.S. sec. 335(8)). 150 to 200 signatures for a county office other than commissioner, 50 to 75 for commissioner.
- Thu Jun 1, 2028, 5:00 p.m. COMPUTED non-party petition deadline (sec. 354(8-A)), with municipal registrar certification due a week earlier. 300 to 400 signatures for a county office, 100 to 150 for commissioner.
- Tue Jun 13, 2028 COMPUTED primary, the second Tuesday in June (sec. 339).
- Tue Aug 29, 2028, 5:00 p.m. COMPUTED write-in declaration deadline, the 70th day before the general (sec. 722-A(1)).
- Tue Nov 7, 2028 COMPUTED general election.
Somerset County is different: it runs every county office except district attorney as a nonpartisan November-only race on county-specific petitions, so generic statewide instructions will send a Somerset candidate down the wrong track entirely.
The 2026 dates come from the Maine Secretary of State's elections pages and title 21-A, read on 2026-08-20. Maine has published no 2028 calendar, so those dates are arithmetic from statute. The Secretary of State publishes a per-county grid of which offices appear in which year -- read your own county's row rather than assuming. Confirm with the Division of Elections.
Offices on the ballot in York County.
These are the seven kinds of elected office a Maine county fills. Every one of them carries a 4-year term. Not all seven are on every county's ballot in the same year, and in three counties two of them are not elected at all, so read your own county's list rather than assuming.
- Sheriff -- on the November 3, 2026 ballot, 4-year term. The sheriff is a constitutional office in Maine (Me. Const. Art. IX, Sec. 10) and in most of the state the county sheriff's office is the primary police agency outside the larger towns.
- County Treasurer -- on the November 3, 2026 ballot, 4-year term (30-A M.R.S. Sec. 151).
- Register of Deeds -- on the November 3, 2026 ballot, 4-year term (33 M.R.S. Sec. 601). The registry records every deed, mortgage and survey plan affecting land in the county.
- District Attorney -- on the November 3, 2026 ballot, 4-year term. York is Prosecutorial District 1 on its own.
- County Commissioner -- three of the five district seats are on the 2026 ballot: Districts 1, 2 and 3. York is the only county in Maine whose commission size is set by its own statute: 30-A M.R.S. Sec. 61-A gives York a board of a chair and four other members, where the default under Sec. 61 is a chair and two.
- Judge of Probate and Register of Probate -- neither is on the 2026 ballot. Both come round in 2028.
Statewide and legislative seats covering York County are on the same ballot:
- Governor -- an open seat on the November 3, 2026 ballot. Me. Const. Art. V, Part 1, Sec. 2 limits a Governor to two consecutive terms and Governor Mills is term-limited, so no incumbent is running. A primary petition needed 2,000 to 2,500 signatures (21-A M.R.S. Sec. 335(5)) and a non-party petition 4,000 to 5,000 (Sec. 354(5)).
- United States Senator -- one Maine seat is on the November 3, 2026 ballot.
- Representative to Congress -- both of Maine's congressional districts are on the November 3, 2026 ballot. A primary petition needed 1,000 to 1,250 signatures. Ranked-choice voting applies to Maine's federal races; county races, and state races at the general election, are decided by plurality.
- State Senate -- all 35 seats are on the November 3, 2026 ballot. A primary petition needs 100 to 150 signatures (21-A M.R.S. Sec. 335(5)) and a non-party petition 200 to 300 (Sec. 354(5)).
- State House of Representatives -- all 151 seats are on the November 3, 2026 ballot. A primary petition needs 25 to 40 signatures and a non-party petition 50 to 80, the smallest numbers anywhere in 21-A M.R.S. Sec. 335(5) and Sec. 354(5). A Maine House seat is about as reachable as elected office gets in this state, and it is where Motion51 fits Maine best.
Two things are worth carrying away from the county list above. First, the county offices are set by statute and they do not vary the way the ballot does. The board of county commissioners under 30-A M.R.S. Sec. 61 defaults to a chair and two other members, each elected by the voters of a single commissioner district; four counties have five commissioners (Cumberland, Franklin, Somerset and York, the last of them by its own statute at Sec. 61-A) and Androscoggin has seven. Sheriff is a constitutional office (Me. Const. Art. IX, Sec. 10), elected in all 16 counties. Judge of Probate and Register of Probate are constitutional as well (Me. Const. Art. VI, Sec. 6): the judge is created by 4 M.R.S. Sec. 301 and must be an attorney admitted to the general practice of law, while the register is a separate elected office needing no law degree (18-C M.R.S. Sec. 1-501). Register of Deeds sits at 33 M.R.S. Sec. 601, and Aroostook, split into a northern and a southern registry district, elects two of them. County Treasurer sits at 30-A M.R.S. Sec. 151. District Attorney is elected by PROSECUTORIAL DISTRICT rather than by county: Maine has eight, most of them covering more than one county, a candidate must be a member of the Maine bar (30-A M.R.S. Sec. 251), and all eight are on the 2026 ballot. Second, three counties do not elect the full set. Androscoggin, Cumberland and Knox have adopted county charters that make the County Treasurer and the Register of Deeds appointed rather than elected, so there is no election to run in for either office in those three counties, and Somerset's charter puts every county office except District Attorney on a non-partisan general-election ballot. Municipal office -- select board, town council, school board, town clerk -- runs on each town's own calendar under Title 30-A and its own charter, and the Secretary of State has no role in it; ask your municipal clerk. County terms in Maine are staggered rather than synchronised, so a county that has six offices on the ballot in one cycle may have two in the next. The Secretary of State publishes a single table, County Offices Appearing on the Ballot by Election Cycle, that settles it for all 16 counties at once. It is linked below and it is the document to check before you plan anything.
How to get on the ballot.
There are three routes onto a Maine ballot and none of them costs a filing fee. Maine is a pure signature state for state and county office: there is no filing fee prescribed anywhere in Title 21-A for a county office. Two of the three routes closed in the spring. One is still open, and it closes at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, August 25, 2026.
Declared write-in candidacy -- OPEN until 5 p.m. Tuesday, August 25, 2026.
This is the only route still open for the November 3, 2026 election, and in Maine it is a much better route than it sounds. You file a declaration of write-in candidacy with the Secretary of State on or before 5 p.m. on the 70th day before the election (21-A M.R.S. Sec. 722-A(1)), which for 2026 is Tuesday, August 25. There is no fee and there are no signatures. You must meet all the other qualifications for the office you are seeking.
- At a Maine GENERAL election a write-in wins on a plurality. There is no minimum vote threshold to clear, unlike the primary write-in rules in most states. Whoever gets the most votes wins, and in an uncontested down-ballot county race that bar can be extraordinarily low.
- Get the form early. Write-in declaration forms are not posted for download; you request one from the Division of Elections at [email protected], and you have to tell them which office you are seeking. Do that now rather than in the last week.
- Your name will not be printed on the ballot. Every vote you get has to be written in by hand by a voter who remembered your name and how to spell it, which is a canvassing and name-recognition problem, not a paperwork problem.
- Section 722-A was repealed and replaced by PL 2025 c.397 Sec. 44. Older guides and older copies of the statute may show a different deadline. The 70th-day rule is the current text and the Secretary of State's own 2026 guidance matches it.
Party primary petition -- closed March 16, 2026; expect the next one around mid-March 2028.
A candidate seeking a party nomination for a county office circulates a primary petition, has the registrar or clerk of each municipality certify the signatures of that municipality's own residents (21-A M.R.S. Sec. 335(7)(B)), and then files the whole thing with the Secretary of State (Sec. 335(8)). Maine has four qualified parties: Democratic, Green Independent, Libertarian and Republican.
- Signatures for a county office other than county commissioner: at least 150 and not more than 200 (21-A M.R.S. Sec. 335(5)(D)).
- Signatures for county commissioner: at least 50 and not more than 75 (Sec. 335(5)(E)). That is the cheapest county race in Maine to enter.
- For comparison: State Representative 25 to 40, State Senator 100 to 150, Governor 2,000 to 2,500, Representative to Congress 1,000 to 1,250.
- No signature may be dated before January 1 of the election year (Sec. 335(6)), and the circulator must swear to the petition before a notary or other person authorised to administer oaths (Sec. 335(7)(A)).
- Signers must be voters of the electoral division and enrolled in the party named on the petition, unless that party has elected to allow unenrolled voters to sign. Parties make that election once a year, by December 31 of the preceding year (Sec. 335(2), as amended by PL 2025 c.397).
- There is no filing fee. Nothing in Section 335 asks for money.
Non-party (independent) nomination petition -- closed June 1, 2026.
The independent route runs on the same two-step mechanism, with the municipal registrar or clerk certifying its own residents' signatures (21-A M.R.S. Sec. 354(7)(C)) before the petition is filed with the Secretary of State (Sec. 354(8-A)). The signature counts are roughly double the primary numbers: 300 to 400 for a county office other than commissioner, and 100 to 150 for county commissioner. There is no filing fee here either. Maine has no Independent party; a candidate who wants the word on the ballot runs as an unenrolled candidate.
- Somerset County is the exception. Under its county charter Somerset elects every county office except District Attorney on a non-partisan basis, and those offices appear only on the November general election ballot. A Somerset county candidate follows these non-party requirements with one difference: you do NOT have to be unenrolled. You can be a registered Democrat or Republican and still run.
- Everywhere else in Maine, a non-party candidate for a partisan office must be unenrolled.
Statutory references: 21-A M.R.S. Sec. 335(8) and Sec. 354(8-A) -- candidate petitions for county office are filed with the Secretary of State in Augusta, not with the county. Maine counties do not administer elections at all; municipalities do. · 21-A M.R.S. Sec. 335(7)(B) (primary) and Sec. 354(7)(C) (non-party) -- the registrar, or the clerk at the registrar's request or in the registrar's absence, of each municipality concerned certifies which signers appear in the central voter registration system as registered voters of that municipality. A municipality must have an official available to certify petitions on the day of the filing deadline. · 21-A M.R.S. Sec. 335(5) -- county office other than commissioner 150 to 200; county commissioner 50 to 75; State Senator 100 to 150; State Representative 25 to 40; Representative to Congress 1,000 to 1,250; Governor 2,000 to 2,500. · 21-A M.R.S. Sec. 354(5) -- county office other than commissioner 300 to 400; county commissioner 100 to 150; State Senator 200 to 300; State Representative 50 to 80; Governor 4,000 to 5,000. · There is no filing fee for any county or state office in Maine. Title 21-A prescribes signatures, a consent form and a notarised circulator's oath, and no money at any point. · 21-A M.R.S. Sec. 722-A(1), as repealed and replaced by PL 2025 c.397 Sec. 44 -- a declaration of write-in candidacy must be filed with the Secretary of State on a form the Secretary approves, on or before 5 p.m. on the 70th day before the election. For November 3, 2026 that is Tuesday, August 25, 2026. · Me. Const. Art. IV, Part 1, Sec. 4 -- the general election is held on the Tuesday following the first Monday of November. · Me. Const. Art. V, Part 1, Sec. 2 -- no person may serve more than two consecutive terms as Governor. Governor Mills is term-limited, so 2026 is an open-seat gubernatorial election. · 30-A M.R.S. Sec. 61 -- a board of a chair and two other members, each representing a commissioner district and elected by the voters of that district, chosen on the Tuesday following the first Monday of November in each even year. Sec. 61-A gives York County a chair and four other members. Sec. 62 sets the 4-year term. · 30-A M.R.S. Sec. 251 -- the district attorney is elected by prosecutorial district, which consists of one or more counties, and must be a member of the bar of this State. · Me. Const. Art. VI, Sec. 6 -- judges and registers of probate are elected by the people of their respective counties. 4 M.R.S. Sec. 301 requires the judge of probate to be an attorney admitted to the general practice of law. · 21-A M.R.S. Sec. 196-A -- central voter registration data is confidential under the Freedom of Access Act and is available only as this section allows. Sec. 196-A(1)(B) lets a political party, or an individual or organization engaged in get out the vote efforts or other activities directly related to a campaign, purchase a list or report of voter information. Anyone who obtains the data directly or indirectly may not sell, transfer or use it for a purpose not directly related to party activity, get out the vote work or a campaign, and may not cause voter-identifying information to be made accessible to the general public on the internet or through other means. · 21-A M.R.S. Sec. 196-A(6) -- civil violation only. The criminal penalty formerly at Sec. 196-A(5) was repealed by PL 2025 c.397 Sec. 13. A violation now carries a fine of up to $1,000 for a first offence and up to $5,000 for each additional one. Sec. 196-A(4) separately bars using the data to discriminate.. Fees and signature counts change; confirm before you file.
The York County Commissioners Office.
Maine has no county election office, so there is no county board of elections to call. Elections are run by municipal clerks and registrars, candidate filings go to the Secretary of State, and the voter file is sold by the Secretary of State. What the county office below can tell you is which county seats are on your ballot, which commissioner district you live in, and what the job you are running for actually involves day to day.
- Office
- 149 Jordan Springs Road, Alfred, ME 04002
- Phone
- 207-459-2500
York is the second most populous county in Maine at about 215,000 people, and three of its five commissioner seats are on the ballot this November. The districts are distinct places rather than lines on a map: District 2 is Biddeford, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel; District 3 is Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Buxton and Hollis; District 5 is the Kittery, Eliot, York, Wells and Ogunquit coast. York County was incorporated in 1636 and is the oldest county in Maine.
Contact details verified 2026-08-14. Official statewide sources: Maine SoS: Upcoming Elections (2026 candidate lists and the write-in deadline) · Maine SoS: 2026 County Offices Appearing on Ballot by Election Cycle (PDF) · Maine SoS: Becoming a Candidate · Maine SoS: find your municipal clerk or registrar · Maine SoS: Voter Data and the CVR data request form · 21-A M.R.S. Sec. 335 (primary petition requirements and signature counts) · 21-A M.R.S. Sec. 722-A (declared write-in candidacy, 70th day) · 30-A M.R.S. Sec. 61 (board of county commissioners) · Maine County Commissioners Association · Maine Ethics Commission (campaign finance registration and reporting).
Common questions.
Can I still get on the ballot in York County in 2026?
Yes, as a declared write-in candidate, and the deadline is 5 p.m. on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. That is the 70th day before the November 3 general election, set by 21-A M.R.S. Sec. 722-A(1). There is no fee and there are no signatures. You request the declaration form from the Maine Division of Elections by e-mailing [email protected] and telling them which office you are seeking. The regular routes have closed: primary petitions were due at the Secretary of State's office by 5 p.m. on Monday, March 16, 2026, the primary was held June 9, and non-party petitions closed at 5 p.m. on Monday, June 1. The next regular filing window for a county office in York County opens in January 2028.
How many votes does a write-in candidate need to win in Maine?
At the general election, more than anybody else. A Maine general election is decided by plurality, and Maine imposes no minimum vote threshold on a general-election write-in; the office goes to whoever gets the most votes, and a write-in candidate is counted on exactly the same footing as the names printed on the ballot. In a down-ballot county race that nobody filed for, that bar can be startlingly low. This is not the same as a primary write-in, and it is not the same as the rules in most other states, several of which set a floor equal to the petition signature requirement.
How much does it cost to run for county office in York County?
Nothing in filing fees. Maine charges no filing fee for any county or state office; Title 21-A asks for signatures, a consent form and a notarised circulator's oath, and never for money. What a regular candidacy costs you is signatures: 50 to 75 for county commissioner and 150 to 200 for any other county office on a primary petition (21-A M.R.S. Sec. 335(5)), or 100 to 150 and 300 to 400 respectively on a non-party petition (Sec. 354(5)). County commissioner is the cheapest county race to enter anywhere in Maine. A write-in declaration costs nothing and needs no signatures at all. You will also need to register with the Maine Ethics Commission once your campaign starts raising or spending money.
Where do I file to run for county office in York County?
With the Secretary of State in Augusta, not with the county. This is the single most common mistake made about Maine ballot access. Maine counties do not administer elections at all. Getting on the ballot is a two-step process: first the registrar or clerk of each municipality where your signers live certifies that those signers are registered voters of that municipality (21-A M.R.S. Sec. 335(7)(B) for a primary petition, Sec. 354(7)(C) for a non-party petition), and only then is the certified petition filed with the Secretary of State (Sec. 335(8), Sec. 354(8-A)). A municipality has to make someone available to certify petitions on the day of the deadline, but do not leave it to that day.
Which county offices are on the 2026 ballot in York County?
The list further up this page is built from the Secretary of State's own table, County Offices Appearing on the Ballot by Election Cycle, as revised on February 27, 2026, and cross-checked against the Maine County Commissioners Association's 2026 directory. Maine county terms are staggered, so the answer genuinely differs from county to county and from cycle to cycle: Washington County has all six of its county-wide offices up in 2026, while Kennebec has three. Commissioner districts stagger separately again. Confirm with the county office before you gather a signature.
Is Judge of Probate a real elected office in Maine?
Yes, and it is worth saying plainly because plenty of guides filter it out as if it were clerical. The Judge of Probate is a constitutional office under Article VI, Section 6 of the Maine Constitution, elected by the voters of the county to a 4-year term, and 4 M.R.S. Sec. 301 requires the judge to be an attorney admitted to the general practice of law. Maine probate judges hear estates, guardianships, conservatorships, adoptions and name changes. The Register of Probate is a separate elected office and does not require a law degree.
Why is my county's District Attorney race bigger than my county?
Because Maine elects district attorneys by prosecutorial district rather than by county, and most districts cover more than one county (30-A M.R.S. Sec. 251). There are eight districts for sixteen counties. York is District 1 on its own, Cumberland is District 2 on its own and Aroostook is District 8 on its own; Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford share District 3; Kennebec and Somerset share District 4; Penobscot and Piscataquis share District 5; Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc and Waldo share District 6; and Hancock and Washington share District 7. A district attorney candidate also has to be a member of the Maine bar. All eight districts are on the 2026 ballot.
Are county races in Maine partisan?
In fifteen of the sixteen counties, yes. Somerset County is the exception: under its county charter Somerset elects every county office except District Attorney on a non-partisan basis, and those non-partisan offices appear only on the November general election ballot, never on a primary ballot. A Somerset county candidate follows Maine's non-party petition requirements with one important difference, which is that you do not have to be unenrolled. You can be a registered Democrat or Republican and still run for a Somerset county office.
Is there a Governor's race in Maine in 2026?
Yes, and it is an open seat. Article V, Part 1, Section 2 of the Maine Constitution limits a Governor to two consecutive terms, and Governor Mills is term-limited, so no incumbent is on the 2026 ballot. Also up on November 3, 2026: a United States Senate seat, both Maine congressional districts, all 35 State Senate seats and all 151 State House seats. A primary petition for Governor needed 2,000 to 2,500 signatures; a State Representative petition needed 25 to 40.
How many registered voters are there in York County?
Motion51 does not hold the Maine voter file, so we do not publish a registration count for York County. The Secretary of State publishes a Statewide Registered and Enrolled Data File broken down to county, municipality, voting district and party level, and it is free to download from the Voter Data page linked below. What this page does show is the real 2024 presidential turnout for York County, which is usually the more useful number when you are sizing a canvass. If you want the actual voter list with names and addresses, that is a purchase from the Central Voter Registration system under 21-A M.R.S. Sec. 196-A.
After you qualify: the field operation.
Maine is the least dense state east of the Mississippi and county campaigns here range from four coastal towns to an area larger than Connecticut. Aroostook's commissioner District 1 covers about thirty towns and plantations plus two unorganized territories; Knox's District 1 is four towns around Rockland. That difference decides everything about how a campaign is run. Two Maine-specific wrinkles matter for canvassing. The first is unorganized territory: large parts of Piscataquis, Aroostook, Somerset, Franklin, Oxford, Penobscot, Hancock and Washington sit outside any town, the county itself acts as the local government there, and the addresses are townships rather than street grids. The second is islands. Islesboro, Vinalhaven, North Haven, Isle au Haut, Matinicus, Monhegan, Frenchboro, Swan's Island, Chebeague and Long Island all vote, and reaching those doors means a ferry schedule, not a walk list. Plan turf around ferries and around the fact that a Maine voter file gives you an address and a year of birth and very little else.
That is the part Motion51 was built for. You scope your district, cut turf, and send volunteers out with a phone instead of a clipboard. It works offline, so canvassing does not stop where the cell signal does, and every door is logged with a timestamp for your records. Our For Candidates page walks through what that looks like.
Counties next to York.
Running in a district that crosses a county line? Each of these has its own guide.