Supporters of a Voter ID initiative in Maine have gathered enough signatures to place the issue on the fall ballot.
Maine is one of 14 states that do not require voters to present a photo ID at their polling places. After multiple failed attempts to get bills through the Democratic-controlled Legislature, a group called Voter ID for ME turned to Maine's ballot initiative process.
The group turned in petition sheets containing more than 170,000 signatures to the Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows last month. And on Wednesday, Bellows' office announced that the group had "far exceeded" the 67,682 signatures from registered voters that were needed to qualify for the ballot.
State lawmakers will now have the option of approving the bill as written — an extremely unlikely scenario, given strong past opposition to the measure — or sending the ballot initiative to voters this November.
"We had full confidence of qualifying for the ballot as we submitted 100,000 more signatures than required but now can officially turn our effort to winning the ballot campaign this coming November," Alex Titcomb with Voter ID for ME said in a statement. "We look forward to every voter in Maine having the ability to make their voice heard on this initiative to strengthen our elections in Maine."
National polls suggest that voter ID laws enjoy strong, bipartisan support. But opponents argue that such laws suppress turnout and disenfranchise voters, especially minorities or older voters who are less likely to have driver's licenses.
The ballot initiative would require all voters to present a photo ID — such as a driver's license, non-driver's ID card, passport or military ID — in order to vote in person. Voters requesting absentee ballots would also be required to provide the driver's license number, non-driver's ID card number or a copy of a photographic ID. Individuals without a photo ID at the polling place would be allowed to cast what's known as a "challenged ballot" that gives them four days to return with a legal ID card.
But the referendum also seeks to make other changes to voting procedures beyond instituting a Voter ID rule. For instance, the initiative would eliminate a provision that allows voters to have absentee ballots automatically mailed to their homes and would no longer allow voters to request an absentee ballot via telephone. It would also restrict municipalities to one ballot drop box and would require a "bipartisan team of election officials" to retrieve those ballots rather than municipal clerks.
Critics of the proposal are also expected to focus on those changes in addition to raising concerns about potential voter disenfranchisement under a voter ID law.
The Voter ID campaign has been spearheaded by the conservative political action committee Dinner Table Action, which is led by Republican Rep. Laurel Libby of Auburn and Titcomb. The group and a related PAC, For Our Future, have been prolific fundraisers during recent election cycles and have ties to deep-pocketed national donors.
This is an off-year election in Maine, which typically means lower voter participation. Proponents of enacting a so-called "red flag" gun bill — which allows family members to directly petition a judge to remove someone's firearms if they pose a threat — also recently submitted petitions to qualify for the November ballot, although the Secretary of State's Office is still reviewing those signatures.
