Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, a leader in an effort to get a voter ID proposal on the ballot in Maine, speaks during a news conference in Augusta in January. Rachel Ohm/Portland Press Herald

A group campaigning to require photo identification when voting and tighten absentee ballot access in Maine is suing the secretary of state’s office over the wording of a statewide referendum headed for the fall ballot.

Supporters say the official wording misrepresents the proposal and “buries its core intent behind a string of technical and inflammatory clauses.”

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and other opponents of the referendum have criticized advocates for promoting the measure only as a voter ID mandate when it would also make it harder to vote absentee and make other changes to election laws that officials say would be difficult and expensive to implement.

Bellows released the final wording of the ballot question last week:

“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?”

The Voter ID for ME campaign said the question “misrepresents the proposal and buries its core intent behind a string of technical and inflammatory clauses” and “fails to meet the constitutional and statutory standards of clarity, accuracy, and impartiality.”

“Maine voters deserve a clear, honest question — not a partisan editorial from an official who’s already made her opposition clear in the press and in legislative testimony,” campaign manager Alex Titcomb said in a written statement.

Bellows defended the wording of the question, saying it was based on the 318 public comments received during the drafting process. She said in a written statement that the question clearly articulates the six changes included in the proposal.

“I challenge Dinner Table Action to name one provision in the question that isn’t in the law that they have proposed,” Bellows said, referring to the political action committee behind the effort. “If they didn’t want the provisions in the question, they shouldn’t have put them in the proposed law.”

Bellows, a Democrat, has been the target of criticism of Republicans after she tried to exclude Donald Trump from Maine’s 2024 ballot, citing the anti-insurrection clause of the U.S. Constitution and Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol. She reversed course after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a similar case that state officials don’t have the power to exclude a nominee from the presidential ballot.

Bellows came under renewed scrutiny last month when she formally announced that she was running in the Democratic primary for governor. Republicans called on Bellows to resign as the state’s top election official, but she refused, citing past precedent.

Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, who is helping lead the campaign for voter ID, accused Bellows of “misusing her power to mislead the public.”

“It’s not just dishonest — it’s undemocratic,” Libby said in a written statement.

The 11-page proposal, LD 1149,would require a photo ID at the polls or when a voter returns an absentee ballot, though it includes a religious exemption for those who object to being photographed. Acceptable IDs would include state driver’s license or ID cards, a military ID, passport or a concealed weapons permit. It would not include student IDs.

The proposal would also end the current practice of allowing absentee ballots to be requested by phone and by immediate family members, and would end a program that allows seniors and people with disabilities to receive absentee ballots for every election without making a special request each time.

Additionally, the bill would prohibit municipalities such as Portland and Orono from having more than one drop box to collect absentee ballots. And it would require municipalities to have “a bipartisan team of election officials” to collect those ballots, rather than assigning the task to municipal clerks.

The campaign to pass the measure has been fueled by a $500,000 donation from a national group, the Republican State Leadership Committee.

The proposal drew strong opposition, including from Bellows and local elections officials, during a public hearing earlier this month.

Opponents argued that Maine’s elections are already secure and that the new requirements would only make it more difficult for some people to vote, including older residents, people with disabilities, people without reliable transportation, busy parents and shift workers. They included AARP, the Maine Town and City Clerks Association, the Maine State Nurses Association, the Maine Education Association and the Maine Women’s Lobby.

Those who spoke in favor, mostly the Republican sponsors of the bills, argued they are commonsense reforms to increase confidence in elections.

Libby noted that more than 171,000 voters signed the petition to place the question on the ballot, but opponents at the public hearing accused signature gatherers of only highlighting the proposal to show voter ID when casting a ballot, despite the bill containing other sweeping reforms.

“It is important that the legislators and the voters understand the comprehensive nature of the initiative that’s before you,” Bellows said at the May 2 hearing.