The Hancock County District Attorney’s Office has handed off oversight of an election interference case against a Maine lawmaker due to a conflict of interest.

Rep. Nina Milliken, D-Blue Hill, was issued a summons last week on a charge of attempting to influence another person’s decision, a Class E misdemeanor.

A complaint filed in Ellsworth District Court Friday by the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office says that on or around April 4, Milliken “attempted to influence another person’s decision regarding a candidate or ballot issue” while within 250 feet of the entrance to the voting place, as well as within the voting place itself, in Blue Hill.

Maine law prohibits attempts to influence voters’ decisions on candidates and ballot questions on public property within 250 feet of the entrance to voting places as well as within voting places.

Milliken, who has been a representative since 2022 and currently serves on the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, did not respond to a message from a reporter Friday. She also did not respond to a voicemail message or email Monday.

Democratic leaders in the Maine House of Representatives have not weighed in either, and authorities have released few details about what led to the charge.

Blue Hill Town Clerk Dana Goettler, who was deputy clerk at the time, said the April election included races for select board, school board, planning board and three local referendum questions. It was held in an auditorium upstairs in the town hall.

Goettler said Monday that she was working upstairs and did not witness Milliken trying to influence any voters. She said Milliken is said to have been downstairs in a lobby area of the town hall.

Election officials did not receive any requests to challenge the ballots of voters who may have been improperly influenced, Goettler said.

“We have a procedure for dealing with that and I can tell you that did not happen,” she said.

She said she did not know who complained about Milliken to the sheriff’s office.

The case is being handled by Hancock County Assistant District Attorney Kirk Bloomer, but will be supervised by Natasha Irving, the district attorney for Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox and Waldo counties, due to a conflict of interest for Hancock County District Attorney Robert Granger.

Granger did not respond to an email Monday seeking specifics about that conflict.

“ADA Bloomer received a file for review from the Hancock County sheriff’s department, he reviewed it and believed there was probable cause to charge a crime,” Irving said in an email. “I agreed to supervise as is normal practice between our districts. I reviewed the file and agreed with ADA Bloomer’s decision.”

Irving did not respond to a follow-up email seeking further information on who originally brought the complaint to authorities and the details of their complaint.

House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, and Majority Leader Matt Moonen, D-Portland, did not respond Monday to voicemails and emails seeking comment on the case.

“These are very serious charges, obviously, but Representative Milliken has due process rights, and this will all get sorted out in court,” House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, said in a text message Monday.

Milliken is scheduled to appear in court in Ellsworth for an arraignment Oct. 7. A Class E misdemeanor is punishable by up to six months in jail or a fine of $1,000.