1. About the Poll
2. Results
1. Results by Town
2. Results by Category
3. Data
1. Penny count
2. Percentage table
4. Coverage
1. State Press Release
2. State Op-Ed
3. Mount Desert Islander Guest Column

The Categories -- The categories and examples with which the jars were labelled were as follows (click to see the results by town for the given category):

The examples provided for these categories were mutually exclusive in the eyes of people of various ideological or political views. For instance, people who like the idea of food stamps might not appreciate subsidies of large-scale agribusiness, while people who think environmental protection is important might not approve of space exploration. Having to make decisions based on the categories as presented made the job of deciding more difficult than some expected, but it mirrored the problem members of Congress have when a favorite bill gets watered down or loaded with unwanted riders.

The Towns -- The original dry run of the poll run in the summer aimed at (and succeeded in) getting at least one town in each county. The towns for the Election Day poll were selected by a very important criterion -- towns where volunteers were available (click a town to see its results):