Maine voters bellied to the ballot box and flexed their veto muscles over new taxes on beer, wine and soda imposed months ago by the state Legislature as a way to prop up the state-subsidized DirigoHealth insurance program.

With 16 percent reporting as of press time, about 61 percent of Maine voters called for repealing the tax compared to 39 percent who favored letting it stand.

"I really think the people of Maine are speaking up and they said this is not a fair tax," said Mike Barriault, operations manager of Central Distributors Inc. "The tax was snuck in at the last moment and without public input."

The family-owned Lewiston-based wholesale distributor supported the effort to repeal the tax. While he understood the need to fix what many consider a broken state insurance program, Barriault said he and other Question 1 supporters felt that state lawmakers should have held more public hearings on the issue.

"I don't think it's fair to raise our taxes in this current economic climate," said Ed Stebbins, owner of Gritty McDuff's Brew Pub in Auburn. "To raise our taxes without consulting with us first is irresponsible. There's a right way of doing it and there's a wrong way - and they went about it the wrong way."

Many who voted to repeal the tax did so based on concerns that the state wouldn't stop at beer, wine and soda. Kevin Hunter, 26, of Auburn, was one who wondered whether the state would eventually look at future taxes on other nondiscretionary items.

But not everyone agreed. Kris and Craig Deveau, 44 and 48 respectively, of Auburn, countered that supporters of Question 1 made it look as if the state was looking to tax milk and bread.

The couple was among the minority of voters who supported letting the tax stand.

"I strongly believe in the Dirigo plan and I really hope that they'll find another way to fund it," said Paul Spencer, 57, of Auburn. "I think it's something that we really, truly need to have, but I just don't think that's the way to fund it."