Westbrook, Maine (WBEN) - With it being Election Day, many people are expected to flock to their local polling spots this Tuesday to cast their votes in many local and statewide races.
There were also a number of people that participated in the early voting process across the nation, casting their votes in advance of Tuesday's Election Day.
For those taking part in the early voting process in the City of Westbrook in Maine, a suburb of Portland, people were able to cast their votes for mayoral candidate Michael Foley, who happens to be the only candidate running for office this year.
However, a small number of residents approached the city asking about a certain individual that people were backing with lawn signs, but may not have shown up on their ballots. As it turns out, that individual happens to be Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
"[We were] conducting absentee voting at City Hall prior to our election day," said Westbrook City Clerk, Angela Holmes. "Some folks that came into City Hall to vote noticed that there was only one candidate listed on their ballot, and I genuinely believe they started asking about it, because they had seen the Josh Allen signs. They asked us, 'How come he's not on the ballot? Is my ballot incorrect?' So we had to assure them that their ballots are accurately printed, there really is only one candidate, and inform them that Joshua Allen is, in fact, the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills."
In all, Holmes says about a half a dozen people ended up bringing up Allen's name, thinking he was left off the ballot this election season. It was certainly enough where it became a funny joke for those at Westbrook City Hall.
"We thought it was worth sharing with folks on our Facebook page that Josh Allen is not actually running for mayor in the City of Westbrook," Holmes said. "There is only one declared candidate for Westbrook Mayor right now, so don't worry if you don't see him on your ballot."
As it turns out, Holmes is originally from the Oxford area, which is a little more than an hour East of Ithaca, while her husband's family is from Pennfield, which a suburb of Rochester. When the public was approaching her about Allen not being on the ballot, she was surprised to hear about the number of Bills supporters in Maine.
"We're a big Bills household, even though we do live in Patriots country here. When we heard people asking about Josh Allen, we knew immediately who this individual was, and were able to inform voters," Holmes said. "There's a small, but mighty contingency of Bills fans here in the State of Maine, and I think they all get a kick out of it.
"To be able to explain to people that he is not a mayoral candidate, he is the quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, and they don't need to worry, their ballots were printed correctly. It's OK that he's not listed on the ballot, because he is not actually a candidate. It was pretty cool to have that interchange with folks."
While Maine is generally New England Patriots country, Holmes believes that a movement like this with "Josh Allen for Mayor" signs will help bring more Bills fans out of the woodwork in the area.
"This is a pretty fun highlight in the election season for us," she said. "As you might imagine, things get really busy and there's a lot of eyes on ballot processing and on elections. So this was a nice reprieve from some of the stress that might come up around election season. We all thoroughly enjoyed it."