Concerns are growing nationally about voter intimidation by increasingly partisan poll watchers, but officials say there is little evidence to show that Maine is poised to see that in Tuesday’s election.
Poll watchers are people, often recruited by parties or advocacy groups, who observe elections to ostensibly guard against wrongdoing. The practice has long been employed by both parties, but interest has grown around it after a 2020 presidential election in which supporters of former President Donald Trump — including in Maine — falsely alleged systemic voter fraud.
There have been conflicts over poll watchers elsewhere in this election, from armed activists near drop boxes in Arizona to more standard concerns over access in Wisconsin. The only known issues of voter fraud here in 2020 were two University of Maine students charged after one attempted to vote in two towns and the other in the name of a former roommate.
While other states require poll watchers to be a U.S. citizen or a registered voter for that state, Maine has some of the fewest specifications, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Municipalities must allow at least one person in each party to be a poll watcher and others are allowed to observe if there is enough space.
Poll watchers in Maine can report problems to their groups. Both major parties typically have lawyers on standby to vet them. Generally, watchers talk to election workers and silently observe, said Emily Cook, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat.
“They’re not there to impede the [progress] of voters,” Cook said. “That is very clear.”
Maine elections are administered by city and town clerks, who independently count votes before sending them to be certified by the secretary of state’s office. Voter fraud is extremely rare, here and nationally. In recent Maine elections, it has only been charged under isolated circumstances.
The Maine Republican Party has trained poll watchers as part of a national effort that began after the 2020 election. The so-called Election Integrity Team is headed by Sharon Bemis, the former state party finance director who was once town clerk in Embden.
This team has held regular trainings for poll watchers and some of them have promoted their work in letters to the editors in Maine newspapers. Some of them were in Augusta this week watching the processing of absentee ballots, but the party did not respond to specific questions about the scale of their operations, including how many people it would be deploying.
“Our goal is to always help ensure the calm, safe, secure election process that Maine is known for,” Jason Savage, the Maine GOP’s executive director, said in a statement.
Nearly 200 poll workers will be deployed by the Maine Democratic Party at approximately 100 locations across the state, a spokesperson said. Their operation is about making sure the process is being carried out correctly rather than challenging voter eligibility.
There seems to be expanded interest in poll-watching. South Portland City Clerk Emily Scully, who became clerk in 2015, said it was the first time she recalled receiving a list of poll watchers before Election Day. All of them came from the voting advocacy group Democracy Maine and featured eight names, though others could show up on Election Day.
In the same city in 1992, two observers — a city councilor and school board member — disrupted the count after accusing workers of breaking state laws. Police had to be called to end the dispute.
A Republican poll watcher challenged the eligibility of two Somali immigrants in Auburn in 2012 because they were registering to vote with the help of an interpreter. He backed off from the challenge when he was told he would need to sign an affidavit swearing he had direct knowledge the women weren’t eligible to vote.
Many non-partisan independent observers also take part to ensure that the system is working correctly. The Maine League of Women Voters, which is part of Democracy Maine and began poll watching in 2020, has an operation of 125 covering over 100 polling places in every county, director Anna Kellar said.
The group tends to go to places where contention is a possibility, including college towns, places where there are high rates of same-day registration and politically mixed areas. Portland’s local ranked-choice voting system also adds another wrinkle that makes it more important for observation, Kellar said. Watchers look specifically for people being turned away at the polls, as well as making sure that poll locations are accessible to those with disabilities.
Kellar said that while Maine doesn’t have the level of election denialism seen in other states, there are “hints” of it in Maine. The League has seen more partisan poll watchers, but nothing that has raised any red flags yet.
“This heightened activity sometimes may be a nuisance to poll workers,” Kellar said. “But it hasn’t risen to the level of interference at this point.”
In Bangor, clerk Lisa Goodwin said Wednesday that she expects some observers to show up on Election Day, but that she had not yet received any notices from poll watchers. There were about six in 2020, she said. Several communities including Lewiston and Auburn, said they had received notice from League of Women Voters watchers. Scarborough said it would receive observers from both parties.
Lewiston Clerk Kathy Montejo said she was expecting three League of Women Voters watchers. But under an increasingly partisan environment, it is par for the course in the city that houses Bates College.
“It is honestly really nothing new for us,” she said.
