voting

The governor was responding to the Trump administration's latest lawsuit against Maine, this time seeking complete copies of the state's voter registration files.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has rejected two demands from the DOJ to share complete copies of Maine's computerized voter registration rolls. The department's lawsuit, filed Tuesday, represents an escalation of the national tug-of-war between the Trump administration and states over voter data.

The Department of Justice says the detailed data is needed to ensure Maine is accurately maintaining its voter rolls. But Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, says the DOJ is overstepping its bounds as part of a "fishing expedition."

President Trump wants to "lead" an effort to bar mail-in voting and voting machines. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows says both would be bad ideas.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, instead asked a DOJ official why the department wanted the information, how it would be used and to provide details about which, if any, laws Maine has violated as part of its efforts to maintain voter rolls.

Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that Maine's $5,000 cap on donations to super PACs was unconstitutional. But the groups behind the law say the U.S. Supreme Court has never decided this specific issue.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has joined her elections counterparts from multiple other states who say they don't plan to comply with DOJ requests for personal data on voters

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said an investigation by her office found that 11 of the names portrayed as being the same person were, in fact, different people. Nineteen people were recorded by their municipalities as voting twice, but actually voted just once.

Five voters sued Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows in May, accusing her of writing a deliberately confusing ballot question.

Maine's secretary of state declined to say whether Maine will get involved in any court battles challenging the executive order but noted that individual states have broad discretion to set their own election laws.