Politics
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The conservative proponents of a voter ID initiative in Maine confirmed Thursday they will put the question on the November 2025 ballot unless lawmakers pass a similar measure this year.
The Dinner Table, a political committee led by Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, and conservative activist Alex Titcomb, has been spearheading the effort to require Maine voters to provide photo identification at the polls. “Voter ID for ME” supporters collected signatures last year to place the question on the ballot, though it had not been clear when any referendum would take place.
Organizers said Thursday that they have more than 170,000 signatures from voters, which is well over the roughly 67,000 needed to make the ballot. Afterward, Titcomb confirmed the plan is to place the question before voters in November. It will be an off-year election between the 2024 presidential cycle and the 2026 election in which Mainers will choose a new governor.
Titcomb said his group hopes the Democratic-led Legislature would instead pass a voter ID law “after seeing this historic effort showing how Maine people want this common sense legislation.” A 2023 poll showed 63 percent of Mainers support requiring identification when voting, including about a third of Democratic respondents.
However, Republicans have perennially failed to get voter ID bills through the Legislature that Democrats have controlled since 2018. One proposal failed in 2023 that would have required the state to issue a photo ID for free to any eligible voter who does not have one.
Democrats maintained their majorities in the election this past fall, but Republicans gained seats in each chamber, which could lead to tighter votes on certain measures. Voter ID proponents said they will hold a news conference Monday at the State House to submit the signatures that they said volunteers collected on a budget of less than $25,000.
Three dozen states currently require or request that voters show a form of identification at the polls. The Maine proposal would require voters to show ID for both in-person and absentee voting and would direct the secretary of state to issue ID cards to voters without a driver’s license with an exception for voters who have a “religious objection” to being photographed.
The proposal would allow voters without a photo ID to complete a “challenged ballot” and then within four days present a photo ID to their local elections official. Violations would be a Class D misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Opponents to voter ID laws, including the League of Women Voters of Maine and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, said they can have a chilling effect on voter participation in a state that has ranked high nationally in turnout, especially hurting people of color and voters who are older, poorer, disabled or without an active driver’s license.
Studies have repeatedly found extremely low rates of voter fraud in U.S. elections. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology roundup of scientific literature found it is unclear that voter ID laws depress turnout while also finding little evidence they increase voter confidence.
