Nearly half of Maine’s registered voters participated in this year’s November election, which was much higher turnout than during the past two off-year elections.
According to the Secretary of State’s Office, just over 47% of registered voters cast ballots on Nov. 4 or in the weeks leading up to Election Day. There were only two referendum questions on the statewide ballot, although local elections and initiatives drew voters to the polls in some towns.
This month’s turnout was much lower than the 70% or more seen in presidential years. But it is significantly higher than turnout for recent referendum-only elections. Two years ago, for example, roughly a third of voting-age Mainers cast ballots.
Maine consistently has among the highest voter participation rates in the country.
Two weeks ago, 64% of voters rejected the voter ID and absentee balloting changes proposed in Question 1. But 63% of voters supported Question 2, which creates a so-called “red flag” gun law that allows family members to ask a judge to order a potentially dangerous person to relinquish their guns.
Gov. Janet Mills certified the election results on Tuesday. Mills, a Democrat, also said she will include money in an upcoming supplemental budget proposal to implement the new “red flag” law.
Mills had strongly opposed Question 2 on this month’s ballot because she predicted it would undermine the existing “yellow flag” law. Mills had helped to craft the yellow flag law in 2019 as part of a compromise with gun owners’ rights groups and gun control advocates. But the law had been used only about 80 times during the first three years that it was on the books.
That changed dramatically following the October 2023 mass shootings in Lewiston that left 18 dead. Since then, police have used the law more than 1,000 times to obtain court orders forcing potentially dangerous individuals to temporarily surrender their guns.
Under the new red flag law, family members can bring their concerns directly to a judge rather than involving police. Unlike the yellow flag law, the red flag law does not require a mental health evaluation of the person before a judge can order them to surrender their firearms.
“Like proponents of Question 2, I share the goal of strengthening public safety and protecting Maine people,” Mills said in a statement. “And, to that end, I will propose funding to implement the law as part of my supplemental budget in January and my administration will work with law enforcement and the courts to implement the new law alongside our existing Extreme Risk Protection Order law, in order to carry out the will of the Maine people.”
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
