Area town clerks were being swamped with absentee ballots by late afternoon Monday, all reporting record highs and still counting. Lisbon came in with the most, 850, as of 4:30 p.m., as opposed to 379 in the 2000 presidential election.

The following totals were reported, but final tallies will not be known until 8 p.m. Tuesday:

Durham, 520; Greene, 352; Leeds, more than 100; Lisbon, 850; Litchfield, 360; Mechanic Falls, 249; Minot, 270; Monmouth, 288; New Gloucester, 450; Poland, nearly 500; Turner, nearly 500. Tallies for Sabattus and Wales were not available.