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Carrie LeVan is the Montgoris Family Associate Professor of Government at Colby College in Waterville. This column reflects her views and expertise and does not speak on behalf of the college. She is a member of the Maine chapter of the national Scholars Strategy Network, which brings together scholars across the country to address public challenges and their policy implications.
On Aug. 30, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: “Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!! Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military. USE PAPER BALLOTS ONLY!!! President DJT”
For the president and for the proponents of Maine’s Question 1 ballot initiative, voter ID and mail-in (absentee) voting are inextricably linked. Maine voters have an opportunity this Nov. 4 to decide for themselves whether they would like to require voter identification and restrict the use of absentee voting.
While proponents of Question 1 have framed it as a voter ID law, Question 1 proposes significant changes to how voters request and cast absentee ballots and reduces access to early voting days. These are not minor changes, because they will impact access to voting, voter turnout overall, voter turnout amongst low propensity voters (like poor, young, and/or disabled voters), and voter turnout amongst elderly and rural voters.
For example, Question 1 wants to eliminate permanent absentee ballots, which allows voters to request to receive a ballot by mail once and then does not require that they renew the request every election. Permanent absentee ballots are very similar to vote-by-mail, except that in vote-by-mail states everyone receives a mail-in ballot and permanent absentee voters need to initiate the request prior to receiving the mail ballot and after a single request they become a permanent absentee voter. From years of studying permanent absentee ballots and vote-by-mail, scholars have found that these types of convenience voting reforms increase turnout for all voters, but are particularly important for working age voters ages 24 to 64 and that permanent absentee ballot is especially important for the turnout of 65-year-olds and older.
Beyond helping improve turnout amongst our elderly, working, and poor voters, these convenience reforms are particularly important in rural states and communities. Studies have found that rural states are more likely to adopt convenience voting rules — like early voting, no-excuse absentee and permanent absentee/vote by mail — to help meet the needs of their voters who have longer commutes to the polls. Rural voters are more likely to take advantage of these convenience reforms by casting their ballots early and by mailing in their votes.
This is why Maine already adopted early voting, no-excuse absentee voting, and permanent-absentee reforms. If Question 1 passes, the state will introduce barriers and reduce access to the ballot box, and Maine’s large rural voting population will disproportionately bear the brunt of this burden.
I know that the proponents of Question 1 want to sell Mainers a bag of goods all in the name of election security. The problem is: There is little to no evidence that there is widespread voter fraud. Study after study (including those commissioned by President Trump in his first term) find no evidence. In reality, convenience voting reforms — offering early voting, no-excuse absentee, permanent absentee voting, vote-by-mail — lead to more accurate counts of the ballots.
The proponents of Question 1 have made these proposed changes to the voting rules in the name of improving election integrity and reducing voter fraud. However, the consequence of restricting early voting, voting by mail, and permanent absentee voting is a reduction in accurate counts of the ballots — the exact opposite of the proponent’s intention.
All voters would benefit from greater access to early voting, mail-in or absentee voting: Republican, Democrats, independents, poor, working class, middle class, upper class, young, middle-aged, retired, disabled, able-bodied, rural, and urban voters. This is not about advantaging one party over another. It is about expanding access to Americans’ fundamental civil right to vote and to choose who we send to represent us either to the town council, the state house, or the nation’s capital. Every voter should ask themselves, “Why are there politicians who are actively working to make it significantly harder for certain voters to cast a ballot?”
