Maine weighs expansion of absentee voting
(The Center Square) – Mail-in voting allowed hundreds of thousands of Maine residents to safely cast ballots last fall amid fears about the coronavirus, and some lawmakers want to make the changes permanent.
A proposal filed by House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, would automatically mail every registered voter in Maine an absentee ballot ahead of state primaries and elections. Voters who opt into the system would continue to get ballots until they cancel their registration.
Fecteau said the proposal – which predates the COVID-19 outbreak – is “focused on increasing civic participation and making sure that every eligible voter can securely and easily participate in elections.”
“Whether it be an older Mainer with transportation concerns or a voter who works far from home and is unable to make it to their polling place to cast their ballot, there are many voters who would benefit from this ongoing status,” he told members of the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee during a livestreamed hearing on Monday.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows testified in support of the proposal, telling lawmakers that expanding absentee voting would increase voter participation.
Voting access groups like the League of Women Voters of Maine said the changes would good for democracy because they would allow more people to participate in the process.
“Ongoing absentee ballots particularly serve Maine voters who face competing priorities and additional obstacles, including voters with limited means, bilingual households, voters with disabilities, and voters, often elderly citizens, who live alone,” Nadine Bangerter, testifying for the league, told lawmakers.
Like many states, Maine has seen a substantial increase in interest for voting by mail amid the pandemic.
At least 514,429 absentee votes were cast and counted in the Nov. 3 election, about 62% of all votes cast, according to Bellows’ office. That’s up from about 258,000 absentee ballots cast in the November 2016 election.
Under current state law, voters must request an absentee ballot from their local clerk prior to an election. Fecteau’s proposal would automatically send a ballot to anyone who requests ongoing absentee ballot status.
Still, the proposal faces pushback from municipal leaders who say they’re concerned that expanding absentee voting will add to costs for local election clerks and “erode the integrity of the system” by increasing the possibility of voter fraud.
“Whether substantiated or not, accusations will be hurled at and blame disproportionately placed on the municipal officials who would be required by state law to implement the ongoing absentee process,” Kate Dufour, legislative advocate for the Maine Municipal Association, said in a statement opposing the bill. “The proponents of this legislation will bear no responsibility or burden.”
Patti Dubois, chairperson of the Maine Town & City Clerks’ Association’s legislative committee, also expressed concerns about costs, confusion for voters, and the potential for fraud.
“We feel that without the protection of voters requesting an absentee ballot for each election and potentially alerting the clerk of a new address, there is a loss of security and checks and balances over the system,” Dubois told the panel.
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