Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, a leader in the effort to get a voter ID proposal on the ballot in Maine, speaks during a news conference in Augusta Monday prior to the group turning in its petitions to the Maine secretary of state. The referendum organizers say they collected 170,000 signatures. Rachel Ohm/Staff Writer

AUGUSTA — Organizers of an effort to require Maine voters to show photo identification before filling out their ballots have turned in petitions to put the measure on a citizens’ referendum this fall.

The group behind the effort submitted the petitions Monday and said they contain more than 170,000 signatures, far more than required to force a statewide vote. The Department of the Secretary of State must review and certify the petitions before the referendum is put on the ballot.

“Maine people are reasonable,” said Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, one of the lead organizers of the effort. “They want to have confidence that we have strong elections in our state and they understand that requiring an ID to vote is not radical. It’s not extreme. It’s common sense.”

Supporters of the proposal, which would be on the November ballot, say it would strengthen Maine election law, and point to similar laws in 36 other states that already request or require voters to show identification at the polls. Only 21 states ask for a photo ID while another 15 also accept non-photo IDs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Opponents have said that voter ID laws are a form of voter suppression that would disenfranchise people across Maine.

And Secretary of State Shenna Bellows on Monday called the proposal that is being brought forward a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” because of other provisions it contains that would make it harder to vote absentee and that would introduce new rules and procedures for elections staff, such as requiring a bipartisan team of election officials to collect absentee ballots from drop boxes.

“Reading this bill, I have many concerns,” Bellows said. “Reasonable people can agree to disagree about whether specific types of voter ID should be shown when you go to vote … but the citizen’s initiative presented to us today has so much more that is really problematic.”

PHOTO ID REQUIRED 

Among other things, the proposal would require people to present a photo ID at the polls or when requesting an absentee ballot, unless they have a religious exemption to being photographed.

Acceptable forms of ID would include a Maine driver’s license or nondriver identification card; U.S. passport or passport card; or a U.S. military, Maine National Guard or U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs identification card.

Voters without a photo ID could cast a provisional ballot, which would be counted if they produce a photo ID within four days of the election. It would also require the secretary of state to provide free nondriver state IDs to people who need them.

Enacting a statewide voter ID requirement has been proposed repeatedly by Republicans in the Maine Legislature in recent years, but has been blocked by Democrats, who have criticized the costs of such a program and warned that the new requirement would create long lines at the polls and effectively discourage voting.

“Why it’s needed is because 170,000 people have petitioned their government now with their signatures to get it on to the ballot, saying they want this commonsense policy solution for Maine,” said Alex Titcomb, who was also a leader in the signature-gathering effort and who serves as the executive director and co-founder of The Dinner Table, an organization dedicated to conservative causes.

Asked for more details about why people are saying they want the measure in place, Titcomb said, “I don’t think people need a why.”

“It’s a no-brainer,” he said. “It’s common sense. A lot of people … already walk up with their ID in hand. They don’t even think about it.”

Rosa Landeen, of Topsham, was among several dozen supporters of the measure who stood behind Libby and Titcomb during a news conference at the State House wearing white T-shirts that said, “Voter ID for ME.”

Landeen said the ID requirement would prevent people from voting under someone else’s name. “I don’t really seem the harm in having it,” she added. “I got carded for spray paint at Walmart a couple weeks ago. So if we need it for spray paint, why don’t we need it to vote?”

Bellows said Maine’s election laws are already strong and there are very few cases of fraud.

She is opposed to requiring ID when a person goes to vote because it is already required for voter registration. And in some states, ID requirements have led to some legitimate voters being turned away and can increase wait times, she said.

The League of Women Voters of Maine, a nonpartisan organization that encourages active and informed political participation, issued a written statement last week opposing the proposal, saying they see voter ID laws and measures to curtail absentee voting as forms of voter suppression.

“It’s disappointing to see Mainers try to impose these barriers on their fellow Mainers’ right to vote, when this state is justly proud of its high voter participation rates,” said Anna Kellar, executive director of the league. “These restrictions can and will harm every type of voter.”

PROPOSAL MORE THAN VOTER ID

Bellows, a Democrat, said she was surprised to see some of the other measures that are included in the proposal.

It puts in place a process for voters who don’t have their ID’s at the polls to return to their registrar of voters within four days to present their ID and have their ballot counted, which she said would conflict with the current requirement that municipalities have just two days from the day of an election to certify results.

The proposal also requires municipalities to only have one secured drop box for absentee ballots, and removes a part of current law that allows towns and cities to install additional drop boxes. And there’s a prohibition on municipalities prepaying the return postage of an absentee ballot.

It sets up a new requirement for a “bipartisan team of election officials” to collect absentee ballots from drop boxes, as opposed to current law which dedicates that responsibility to the municipal clerk or two people designated by the clerk.

It also rolls back the deadline to request an absentee ballot from the third business day before the election to the seventh, repeals ongoing absentee voting, where a voter can sign up to have an absentee ballot mailed to them automatically for each election cycle, and prevents an authorized third party from delivering an absentee ballot.

Bellows said such measures would make it harder for older people and people with disabilities to vote and would politicize the process in municipalities, many of which are small and might have a hard time meeting some of the new requirements.

She said they do “nothing to increase election security and indeed, might undermine our longstanding reputation of being in the top of the nation in running elections and having high voter turnout.”

Titcomb, meanwhile, said the other elements in addition to requiring a photo ID are mostly minor and that some details would still need to be worked out through rulemaking with the secretary of state’s office. “To drop the requirement for drop boxes down to one rather than having multiple — I don’t see that as causing any harm to any citizen,” he said.

“This proposal requires proof of photo identification at the point of casting a ballot,” Titcomb said when asked about criticism that the proposal would deter people from voting. “Whether that’s in-person on Election Day or absentee early voting, (voters) will learn that new requirement in order to cast their ballot.”

And requiring bipartisan teams to collect ballots would create more security, Titcomb said. “It’s not that there’s anything currently wrong, but it enhances trust in the process,” he said.

Thirty-six states already have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. There are also varying degrees of how strict states are with their requirements, and it’s likely that what is being proposed in Maine would place it among the strictest states.

Only nine states currently have strict photo ID requirements where voters who fail to present a photo ID must vote on a provisional ballot and also take additional steps after Election Day for it to be counted. In others, a voter may sign an affidavit of identity, or poll workers may be permitted to vouch for the voter.

In order for citizen initiatives to get on the ballot, supporters must submit a required number of signatures from registered Maine voters to the secretary of state. That number is equal to 10% of the number of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election, or 67,682 based on the results of the 2022 gubernatorial election.

The secretary of state’s office has 30 days to certify the signatures submitted. The Legislature would also have the opportunity to consider the proposal as legislation if it meets the signature requirement and could choose to pass the proposal or send a competing measure to voters.