News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact:Doug Dunbar
October 28, 2004207-626-8404-News Release-
Student Mock Election Results Announced
Kerry, Allen, Michaud and Question 2 Favored; Question 1 Opposed
AUGUSTA, MAINE – More than 65,000 ballots were cast this week in what is believed to be the largest Student Mock Election in Maine history. Over 400 schools registered for the Student Mock Election, and more than 600 students participated in events at the Bangor Auditorium and Augusta Civic Center on October 26th to receive and tabulate results from participating schools. The events also featured speeches by students and candidates for public office. All of Maine’s Congressional candidates took part, and Governor John Baldacci addressed students in Augusta.
Maine’s Student Mock Election is coordinated by Secretary of State Dan A. Gwadosky. It is part of the National Student/Parent Mock Election, a nonpartisan democracy education project which provided students in all 50 states an opportunity to cast ballots for the 2004 General Election.
“Maine’s Student Mock Election not only educates young people about our democracy and voting process, but it also creates excitement and motivates many students to encourage the adults in their lives to cast a ballot in the actual election. The benefits of this project are both immediate and long-term,” Secretary Gwadosky commented.
The final results reported from more than 275 of the participating schools were released on Thursday. They favored Senator John Kerry for President, as well as Representatives Tom Allen and Mike Michaud for re-election. Maine students voted against Question 1 regarding property taxes, but favored Question 2, which would bar certain bear hunting practices. Complete results are listed on the web at:
on the next page.
The Student Mock Election events in Bangor and Augusta were generously supported by the Bangor Daily News, Kennebec Journal, Morning Sentinel, Augusta Civic Center, Bangor Auditorium, Hannaford, Spanky’s Pizza, North Center Foodservice, Seltzer & Rydholm, Pepsi Bottling Group of Hampden, Are You Ready to Party, Rollins Furniture and InforME.
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DRAFT: NOT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carrie Gott
Telephone: 207-621-2600
Maine Secretary of State Recognized foreGovernment Excellence
AUGUSTA, Maine, October X, 2004 – The Maine Secretary of State has beenis a true eGovernment dignitary by providing the businesses of Maine with a multitude of electronic services through . In the past month, SOSonline.org has been recognized for eGovernment excellence in two competitions.
The Center for Digital Government, an international research and advisory institute on the use of information technology in government, awarded the Maine Secretary of State 5th place out of more than 200 government entries in the 2004 Best of Web Digital Achievement Award. SOSonline.org was named one of the best G2B - Government to Business - web sites in the nation!. Also, the Secretary of State received honors as a winner of PostNewsweek Tech Media’s 2004 Government Computer News (GCN) Awards. From a field of 116 nominations, the Maine Secretary of State’s SOSonline.org was chosen as one of 10 winners by a panel of editors from GCN and Washington Technology for innovative IT accomplishments. GCN and Washington Technology are leading sources of news and information about technology in government.More and more businesses have come to expect government services to be available online and the Maine Secretary of State has delivered by providing a suite of business services available through
“A priority of my office has consistently been to make doing business in Maine easier and more convenient, and businesses here expect us to deliver,” said Secretary of State Dan A. Gwadosky. “Clearly one way this can be accomplished is through the use of technology and I am proud that the Center for Digital Government and GCN have chosen to recognize our efforts in eGovernment.”
Less than a month before the Best of Web award announcement, the Secretary of State received honors as PostNewsweek Tech Media announced the winners of the 2004 Government Computer News Awards. From a field of 116 nominations, the Maine Secretary of State’s SOSonline.org was chosen as one of 10 winners by a panel of editors from Government Computer News (GCN) and Washington Technology for innovative IT accomplishments.. GCN and Washing Technology are leading sources of news and information about technology in government.
“Get online, not in line” is the mantra of SOSonline.org. The Maine Secretary of State has taken the ease of use and interaction with state government to another level. SOSonline.org allows the businesses of Maine to get things done in a way that is not only easy, but also consumes only a very small amount of time. With the success of 85% of all business services performed online, SOSonline.org is not only a brand it’s the way of doing business in Maine.
SOSonline.org is a service of the Department of the Secretary of State, in partnership with InforME, the State of Maine’s private-sector partner and official web portal provider. All online services and official State of Maine web pages can be accessed from the state portal: (
SOSonline.org was created in partnership with InforME. InforME is a collaborative effort between the state of Maine and New England Interactive, LLC, which helps Maine government entities Web-enable their information services. InforME also manages, and markets the state of Maine’s official web site: