Question 1: Voter ID and Absentee Ballot Changes

The gist

This citizen’s initiative would require a photo ID to vote, require the Secretary of State’s office to provide non-drivers with free ID cards, and restrict the ability to vote by absentee ballot.¹

Ballot question

Do you want to change Maine election laws to eliminate two days of absentee voting, prohibit requests for absentee ballots by phone or family members, end ongoing absentee voter status for seniors and people with disabilities, ban prepaid postage on absentee ballot return envelopes, limit the number of drop boxes, require voters to show certain photo ID before voting, and make other changes to our elections?

Tell me more

Valid forms of ID for voters²:

• Maine driver’s license
• Non-driver ID card or interim ID card provided by the Secretary of State’s office
• U.S. passport
• Military ID

More about the ID requirements:

• Voters without an ID would be able to cast a provisional ballot and present an ID within 4 days for the ballot to be counted.²
• Religious objections to being photographed would be allowed.²
• Voters could challenge a voter’s in-person or absentee ballot for failure to comply with ID or signature requirements.²

Absentee ballot drop boxes would need to be:

• Limited to one per municipality.²
• Located on the same property as the municipal registrar (they currently can be located outside where voting takes place).²
• Maintained by a bipartisan team of election officials, not the town clerks.²

Absentee ballot restrictions:

• Require proof of ID on absentee ballot requests²
• End the ability to request an absentee ballot by phone²
• End the ability for family members to request an absentee ballot²
• Require seniors and people with disabilities who have ongoing requests for absentee ballots to request them for each election³
• Ban prepaid postage on absentee ballot return envelopes²
• Reduced absentee voting period³

This question is a citizen’s initiative, which is a way for Mainers to propose new laws. In order to become a valid initiative, a petition supporting the initiative must collect over 60,000 signatures.

Follow the money

The money will be used to:

• Set up the voter ID processes including TV and media campaign, ID card production, envelopes and shipping, technology, postage, office furniture, utilities, miscellaneous office costs, and two customer service representatives.²

Voter ID process setup costs (one time in fiscal year 2025-2026):

• General Fund: $635,000²
• Highway Fund: $676,332 ²

Ongoing annual costs:

• $156,112²

Reduction in revenue:

• Currently, non-drivers pay $5 for an ID card that goes to the Highway Fund. Providing the free non-driver ID cards required by this measure would eliminate that revenue, estimated at $29,149 per year.²

Pros

The primary arguments for this referendum are:

• Some people think elections are more secure when voters are required to show ID.²
• Voter ID laws exist in 36 other states.³

Cons

The primary arguments against this referendum are:

• Voter fraud is rare.³
• It will make it harder for citizens to vote.²
• It will make it significantly harder to vote by absentee ballot, which 45% of Mainers did in the 2024 presidential election.³
• Voters with disability, senior citizens, rural voters, those with mobility challenges, and those with irregular work schedules will be the hardest impacted.²
• It will reduce local control over elections.²

Who cares¹

Support

• Voter ID for ME BQC²
• The Dinner Table Action PAC³
• For Our Future PAC ³
• The Republican State Leadership Committee³
• State Rep. Laurel Libby (Republican)¹
• Bobby Charles (Republican) - Candidate for Governor¹

Opposition

• League of Women Voters²
• Disability Rights Maine²
• Save Absentee Voting committee³
• The Democratic Governors Association³
• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee³
• Democratic Senate Campaign Committee³
• Former President of the Senate Justin Alfond (Democrat)¹
• Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (Democrat)¹
• Wabanaki Alliance¹
• Maine People’s Alliance¹
• Maine AFL-CIO¹
• ACLU of Maine¹
• Democracy Fund Voice¹
• Maine Conservation Voters¹
• Maine Council on Aging¹
• Maine Equal Justice¹
• Maine Women’s Lobby¹
• State Democracy Action Fund¹

Further reading

• [Proposed Changes to Maine Statute(https://www.maine.gov/sos/sites/maine.gov.sos/files/content/assets/Photo-20ID-20for-20Voting-20FINAL.docx)
• Ballotpedia article
• Portland Press Herald article

References

1. Ballotpedia State Desk. Maine Question 1, Require Voter Photo ID and Change Absentee Ballot and Drop Box Rules Initiative (2025). Ballotpedia. Accessed September 23, 2025. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶

2. Bellows, Shenna. Maine Citizen’s Guide to the Referendum Election. Accessed September 23, 2025. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³

3. Billings, Randy. What Maine voters need to know about upcoming referendum questions. Portland Press Herald. Accessed September 23, 2025. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²