While the Internet appears to have relatively little value as a tool to persuade undecided voters, they say, it can help rally people who are already committed to their cause. That may make the Web a useful source of partisan information, but a decidedly ineffective vote-getting tool.

Both sides in a pending referendum that seeks to ban "partial-birth" abortions have set up sites on the World Wide Web. So have supporters of another November referendum that would legalize the medicinal use of marijuana.

The use of Web sites is not unprecedented in Maine referendum campaigns, but it remains something of a novelty. Both sides in a 1998 referendum campaign that led to the repeal of a gay-rights law used Web sites, for example, but they did not play a role in the hotly contested 1996 and 1997 referendum campaigns on clear cutting and other forest practices.

The latest cyber campaign entry made its appearance last week when opponents of the abortion ban, who call themselves the No on 1 campaign, turned to the Web to promote their cause. The Christian Civic League of Maine, a supporter of the abortion ban, got the jump on them by launching its own site Sept. 1.

Supporters of the other publicly initiated referendum on the statewide ballot this November, a group called Mainers for Medical Rights, introduced their Web site a few weeks ago. Unlike the abortion referendum, which has well-organized support and opposition, no organized opposition to the marijuana referendum has surfaced so far.

The Web sites explain each camp's position on their respective issues, provide background information that is predictably one-sided and encourage supporters to sign up as volunteers or make financial contributions.

Supporters of the medicinal use of marijuana have a site that includes a sign-up form, a list of referendum supporters and links to disparate groups such as state government and Maine media outlets. The site can be found at:

http://www.mainers.org/

Supporters of the proposed abortion ban have a site that includes roll calls from legislative votes on the issue and links to other anti-abortion sites. This site can be found at:

http://www.calmaine.org/

Opponents of the proposed abortion ban have a site that lists people and organizations opposed to the ban, campaign contacts for different regions of the state and forms for volunteers and contributors. This site can be found at:

http://www.ourchoice.org/

How useful such sites are is open to debate. Most of their sponsors generally agree that a Web site is more valuable as a research, fund-raising and organizing tool than as a way of winning votes. That's primarily because the people most likely to visit a referendum site already support the sponsor's position on an issue and just want more information about it.

"You're not going to find that there are many people who are uncommitted (on a referendum) and are out there searching for information" on the Web, said Douglas Hodgkin, a political scientist at Bates College in Lewiston. Hodgkin said television ads remain the best tool for reaching "the less interested and uncommitted voters."

Not only are undecided voters unlikely to want to surf the Web for campaign information, experts note, but many of them may not even have access to the Internet.

Television sets are universal. Just about everybody has at least one. But a statewide poll of 400 registered voters last May found that only about 54 percent of Mainers have personal computers in their homes. The same poll, conducted by Strategic Marketing Services of Portland, found that about 71 percent of those computer owners have Internet access, so only about 38 percent of all Maine households are online.

Organizers of this year's crop of referendums generally agree with Hodgkin's assessment of the Web's strengths and limitations as a referendum tool. They say Web sites and their computer cousin, e-mail, are a great way to organize and mobilize people but their vote-getting potential remains largely untested and unproven.

"My sense is everyone is convinced that it's going to change the way we communicate" during campaigns but "it's not a major influence on the outcome of the vote yet," said Michael Heath of the Christian Civic League of Maine, which supports the proposed abortion referendum. "I'm not sure a Web site is a real persuasive tool with the undecided."

"I think, in our case, its biggest value is for people who want more information than they can get from a short news article or from a press release," said Craig Brown of Mainers for Medical Rights, the group pushing to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana. "People aren't just going to happen upon the site" unless they already have a position on an issue and want to learn more, Brown said.

For example, the pro-medicinal marijuana site includes the complete text of the proposed law that will be implemented if voters approve that referendum. Similarly, opponents of the abortion ban plan to post that proposed law on their site. That kind of detail does not exist in campaign brochures, commercials or even in most news stories.

The Web site is "where people will go when they want additional information," said Jeanette Fruen of the No on 1 campaign, who has been running referendums for decades. "When I started managing campaigns in 1980, there weren't such things," Fruen said, but now they are becoming a fact of life in referendum campaigns.

November ballot questions

Here are the nine questions that will appear on the statewide ballot this November. The questions are especially noteworthy because there are no presidential, congressional, gubernatorial or legislative races on the ballot this year.

Question 1 is a publicly initiated referendum that would ban so-called partial-birth abortions, except to protect the life of the mother.

Question 2 is a publicly initiated referendum that would legalize the medicinal use of marijuana.

Question 3 is a bond issue seeking $56 million for transportation improvements.

Question 4 is a bond issue seeking $12.5 million for environmental projects.

Question 5 is a bond issue seeking $9.4 million to convert the Maine Public Broadcasting Corp. to digital broadcasting.

Question 6 is a bond issue seeking $26.4 million for Maine's technical colleges.

Question 7 is a bond issue seeking $50 million to buy public land and easements.

Question 8 is a constitutional amendment requiring that any "people's veto" referendum designed to let voters veto a law passed by the Legislature be held during a general election, not during a special election.

Question 9 is a constitutional amendment providing property-tax breaks for historic preservation and to protect scenic vistas.