The conservative proponents of a November referendum on requiring photo identification to vote in Maine tucked in absentee voting limits that would hit two of the state’s liberal bastions hardest.
The “Voter ID for ME” initiative would bar municipalities from having more than one absentee ballot drop box, a provision that would only affect Portland and Orono, the home of the University of Maine. The initiative would require a “bipartisan team of election officials” — rather than the local clerk or their designees — to retrieve ballots from the boxes.
Those parts of the initiative led by The Dinner Table, a political group tied to Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, have drawn less attention than its top goal: requiring voters to show ID for both in-person and absentee voting, similar to laws in 36 other states.
But while 63 percent of Mainers signaled support for requiring ID to vote in a 2023 University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll, the other changes could affect the referendum’s prospects in a state with no-excuse early voting that has led or nearly led the nation in voter turnout.
The initiative would also no longer allow telephone applications for absentee ballots nor allow voters to automatically receive absentee ballots without submitting separate requests for each election. It directs the secretary of state to issue free ID cards to voters without a driver’s license and allows voters without ID to complete a ballot and present a photo ID within four days.
“These measures will increase security and trust in their handling,” Alex Titcomb, The Dinner Table’s executive director, said via email Thursday. “These are positive improvements that will strengthen our election and increase the trust of Maine voters.”
Titcomb described the absentee voting-related aspects of the initiative as “minor tweaks.” He noted towns are not required to have drop boxes — though many big and small Maine municipalities do — and called it appropriate to include the changes because absentee envelopes would need a copy of a photo ID or ID numbers.
Orono’s two absentee ballot drop boxes are at the town office and the University of Maine’s Memorial Union. Portland has a drop box at City Hall and a second one a roughly 10-minute drive away at its public works building on Canco Road.
Portland City Clerk Ashley Rand said the changes “would be a huge negative” for elections in the city. Both drop boxes are used heavily. Many voters find the Canco Road location “much more convenient than trying to come to downtown Portland,” she said.
Orono Town Clerk Shelly Crosby referred a reporter’s request for comment to Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ office. The Democrat called the absentee-related provisions of the initiative “hugely problematic” and said it may result in increased costs and work for smaller towns that struggle to recruit a bipartisan team of election officials to retrieve ballots instead of clerks.
“It’s going to lead to voter confusion and also politicize this aspect of the process,” Bellows said Thursday.
Maine is one of 27 states that allow drop boxes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Another 12 states explicitly prohibit them. They have been targeted by Republican local officials in areas across the country since 2020, a year that was capped by then-President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election.
Titcomb insisted these parts of the referendum drive are not intended to allege fraud and are instead a forward-looking proposal to “lead the way in strengthening elections.”
“While some focus on negative stories such as fraud or believe that something needs to be broken before implementing policy, we believe waiting for a crisis before taking action is bad governance,” he said.
