This is the referendum ballot question asking voters do they want Lewiston and Auburn to consolidate. 

The early voting room is open at Lewiston City Hall. “Come on down, no lines,” said City Clerk Kathy Montejo. Early voting is available 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday, until Nov. 2. Irene McDougall, left, and Joline Banaitis pass the time waiting for voters Tuesday morning. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

LEWISTON-AUBURN — Lewiston-Auburn voters should know two things, city clerks of both cities said.

Early voting is open. “No lines, no waiting. Come on down,” Lewiston City Clerk Kathy Montejo said.

And the referendum question asking voters do they want Lewiston and Auburn to consolidate is definitely on the ballot. “It’s the only question,” she said.

But the ballot question is confusing some voters, Montejo said.

It reads: “Do you approve the charter and consolidation agreement as recommended by the Lewiston Auburn Joint Charter Commission?”

Some were expecting a more simple, straightforward question like: Do you want to consolidate Lewiston and Auburn, Montejo said.

“After reading the ballot, people are coming back saying, ‘You forgot to give me the ballot that has the merger question,'” Montejo said. “We say, ‘It’s on there.’ They said, ‘I didn’t see it.’

“We want people to know it’s on there. It’s the only referendum on the local ballot.”

Auburn City Clerk Susan Clements-Dallaire said election staff in her office have also encountered voters confused by the referendum.

After getting their two ballots, Clements-Dallaire said, “Some people are saying, ‘Where’s the merger question?’ We are explaining, ‘This is your state ballot, this is the local ballot with the L-A proposed consolidation.’ That seems to help.”

A few are skeptical, saying “‘sounds like it’s already been approved. Are we approving the charter?'” Clements-Dallaire said.

Part of the problem is campaign advertising and news coverage that have used the word “merger,” city clerks said, adding that voters are looking for that word on the ballot.

As in Lewiston, Auburn election workers are explaining the consolidation question is on the local ballot when they hand ballots to voters.

“I would hate for somebody to vote then come back saying, ‘I didn’t see the question,'” Clements-Dallaire said. “I want to make sure they vote.”

The ballot question wording came from the Joint Charter Commission, and was approved by the Lewiston City Council and the Auburn City Council, Montejo said.

Jim Howaniec of the Coalition Opposed to Lewiston-Auburn Consolidation campaign said he’s not surprised that some voters are having trouble with the question.

“It’s very confusing language,” Howaniec said. “This is something we complained about a couple of months ago.” The referendum should simply ask ‘should Lewiston and Auburn be merged,’ he said.

Auburn City Councilors Bob Stone and Leroy Walker attempted to amend the ballot question for Auburn voters, but their amendment didn’t get enough votes. The thinking was the question should be the same in both cities, and the question had already been approved by the Lewiston City Council.

The ballot language was a recommendation from the Joint Charter Commission, which hired a lawyer to advise them, and followed the process as outlined in state law, Montejo said.

The charter commission never used the word “merger,” Charter Commission member Chip Morrison said. “The state law says ‘consolidation.’ That’s what we used. It doesn’t say ‘merger’ in state law.”

The Coalition Against the Lewiston-Auburn Consolidation consistently used the word “merger,” Morrison said. “This is part of their strategy. They wanted to create confusion and anger. We are trying to do what the state law says.”

Voters who are having trouble with the question can ask for help from ballot clerks who are nearby, Morrison said.

Meanwhile both campaigns have agreed to use similar words, like “consolidation,” to avoid any confusion, both city clerks said.

Merger campaigns to host competing events Wednesday

The competing campaigns both for and against the proposed L-A consolidation are hosting events Wednesday night, hoping to rally support with less than two weeks until Election Day. 

At 5:30 p.m. at the Dolard and Priscilla Gendron Franco Center, the pro-merger group OneLA will host a discussion on the future of the two cities, and what they see as the opportunities for economic development, business attraction and city planning. The speakers will be former longtime assistant city administrator Phil Nadeau and Harriman Architects + Engineers President Clifton Greim.

An event advertisement says Nadeau and Greim “will look at consolidation from both private and public sector perspectives and address challenges and opportunities when reconfiguring local government.”

Across the Androscoggin River, the Coalition Opposed to Lewiston-Auburn Consolidation is hosting an anti-merger rally at the Sixth Street Congregational Church starting at 6 p.m. The hosts include Auburn Mayor Jonathan LaBonte and COLAC chairman Jim Howaniec. 

Other speakers will include Auburn mayoral candidate Jason Levesque and Lewiston mayoral candidates Ron Potvin and Shane Bouchard. 

Posting to the group’s Facebook page on Tuesday, Howaniec said, “Let’s have a big turnout and show the world that we are going to defeat this bad idea on November 7.”