An investigation by the Maine Department of the Secretary of State into the Maine Republican Party’s recent claims that 51 Mainers voted twice in the 2024 election concluded those allegations are false.
The state did acknowledge that hundreds of Mainers were indeed registered to vote in different towns, but that is not uncommon, nor is it evidence of fraudulent activity.
“Mainers can be reassured that following a thorough investigation, my office has confirmed that none of the 51 names provided by the Maine GOP had voted twice in the same election,” Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said in an announcement of the investigation’s findings on Wednesday.
The state Republican Party alleged last month that its review of the secretary of state’s voter database uncovered what it considered proof of voter fraud and called on Bellows to investigate. Republicans in Maine and elsewhere have long alleged that voter fraud is widespread, but investigations have consistently found that not to be true.
In its latest investigation, the Election Division of the Secretary of State’s Office found that 11 of the names put forward by the Maine GOP were not the same person, but shared the same full name as a fellow voter. Another 19 had their vote “erroneously assigned twice by their local municipality, but the voter had not in fact voted twice, as confirmed by municipal staff.”
Other isolated instances of confusion occurred for some voters, such as one individual in Dover-Foxcroft who had voted in both a municipal and state election, which the investigation specifies are separate elections even if held on the same day.
The investigation into 551 potential duplicate records found that 126 of those records were already resolved ahead of the Maine GOP’s allegations in June, but another 423 duplicate records “required resolution by the Elections Division.” The other two instances were found to be people with the same full name.
In a letter to James Deyermond, chair of the Maine GOP, Bellows said that “duplicate voter records are not uncommon.”
“When a voter moves from one town to another, the voter will frequently not think to notify the clerk of their previous residence,” Bellows’ letter states as an example.
In her announcement Wednesday, Bellows, who is a Democratic candidate for governor, urged anyone who has concerns or evidence of improper voting to bring that information to authorities. However, she cautioned against false claims.
“It’s not only unfair to the individuals wrongly accused but also an insult to the hardworking state and local election officials to make false accusations of criminal activity,” she said.
The Maine GOP said Wednesday’s findings represented “a huge victory not only for Republicans, but for every Maine resident.”
“We tackled this issue because Maine voters deserve to have confidence in their elections,” the statement reads. “Our efforts have led Secretary Bellows to clean up the records and fulfill her duty as secretary of state.”
The claims by the party come just months before Mainers will be asked this November whether they favor a slew of changes to state election laws, including requiring government-issued identification in order to vote. The wording of that referendum, set by Bellows, has been the subject of lawsuits, with proponents claiming that it is difficult to understand and could lead to people voting against their intent. The wording of the question was upheld by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court last week.
Bellows and other opponents of the referendum have criticized advocates for promoting the measure only as a voter ID mandate, when it comes with over 20 other changes to election laws.
This story has been updated to correct the details of the court decision on the wording of the voter ID referendum.
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