(The Center Square) — Maine voters will decide whether the state will become the latest to require voter identification after backers of a proposed referendum cleared a major hurdle to the November ballot.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said her office has certified the voter ID ballot question after organizers submitted more than 171,000 signatures from voters to qualify for the ballot. Of those, 86,904 signatures were deemed valid, which “far exceeded” the number of votes required to be the question before voters, or 10% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election, Bellows said.
If passed, The statewide ballot question would require Mainers to present a valid state ID or driver’s license to vote or request an absentee ballot for federal, state and local elections.
“Maine people are reasonable and they want to have confidence in the elections in our state,” state Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, one of the lead organizers of the effort, said in remarks at a Thursday press briefing celebrating the milestone in their campaign. “They understand that requiring an ID to vote is not radical. It’s not extreme. It’s common sense.”
Under the proposal, voters who don’t have ID or forget to bring it with them would still be allowed to cast a ballot by filling out a provisional ballot. However, they would have to show a photo ID to a local election official within four days of the election for their vote to count. Acceptable forms of ID would include a Maine driver’s license or identification card, a U.S. passport or passport card or U.S. military identification.
Voting access groups like the Maine League of Women Voters criticize the plan, arguing that it will disenfranchise voters and create barriers to participating in federal, state and local elections.
“It’s not just voter ID that’s coming to the November 2025 ballot, but a full attack on voting rights and absentee voting,” the league said in a statement. “The problem is bad legislation like this could disenfranchise every type of voter no matter where you fall on the political spectrum: rural, elderly, disabled, tribal, student, poor.”
Maine Republicans have pushed for years to require voter ID, pointing to state and national polls showing bipartisan support for the requirements. However, Democrats who control the governor’s office and state Legislature have repeatedly rejected the proposals. Bellows, a Democrat, previously described the proposal as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” because it includes provisions she claimed will restrict voting access.
At least 36 states require voters to present some form of identification before voting, but only nine of those states have strict photo ID requirements, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In February, a national poll released by the Pew Research Center found that 81% of U.S. adults favored requiring people to show a government-issued photo ID to vote.