A case against a Maine lawmaker accused of election interference was dismissed on Thursday due to new evidence provided by the defense.

District Attorney Natasha Irving said in a statement Thursday that the new information leads her to believe that Rep. Nina Milliken, D-Blue Hill, was conforming with state law.

Milliken was charged last month with attempting to influence another person’s decision during a municipal election in April.

Milliken pleaded not guilty to the Class E misdemeanor before her arraignment, which was scheduled for Tuesday.

Milliken was accused of attempting “to influence another person’s decision regarding a candidate or ballot issue” while within 250 feet of the entrance to a voting place, as well as within the voting place itself, in Blue Hill in April, according to a complaint filed in Ellsworth District Court by the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office.

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 on Election Day. Candidates or their representatives may not state the name of the office the candidate is seeking in that election year, wear buttons or campaign apparel displaying the candidate’s name or the office they’re seeking, or express support or opposition for a candidate, though they may otherwise greet voters.

Milliken’s attorney, Will Ashe, has said Milliken only stated to voters that she was a “friend of Amanda Woog” and followed guidance on the law that she had received in advance from the Maine Department of the Secretary of State.

Three witnesses indicated that Milliken’s statements violated state statute, Irving said on Thursday.

Ashe spoke with two of those three witnesses, “and based on those conversations, it is clear that they are not certain they heard the specific statement” that would have violated the law, Irving said.

Milliken and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows exchanged text messages while Milliken was at the polling place, Irving said. Milliken asked whether the statements she made conformed with the law, Irving said, and Bellows said they did.

“This new evidence paints a new and more complete picture of the events of that day and leads me to believe that Rep. Milliken did not make any illegal statements, and the case must be dismissed with prejudice immediately,” Irving said.

In an email to the Press Herald on Thursday night, Ashe said his client “followed the law in all respects.”

“I do not think the case should have been brought but it is a credit to District Attorney Irving that she was willing to re-examine the facts and the law,” Ashe said. “Nina Milliken will continue to be a strong advocate for her constituents and is grateful to have her name cleared.”

Representatives for Republican and Democratic leaders in the Maine House and Senate did not respond to requests for comment late Thursday night.

Irving recognized that the decision would likely draw mixed reactions from Mainers, and some may think it is politically motivated.

“What I hope I can convey to Maine citizens on both sides of this divide, and all of us in the middle, is that party affiliation and political beliefs have absolutely no bearing on innocence or guilt,” Irving wrote. “In Maine and in the United States, it is not the citizen that is required to prove their innocence to the state, but the state that must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to the citizens who serve on a jury of the accused peers.

“With the new information brought to light by defense counsel in this matter, the only just result is a dismissal of criminal charges.”

Irving, the district attorney for Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox and Waldo counties, was overseeing the case because Hancock County District Attorney Robert Granger had a conflict of interest.

Staff Writer Rachel Ohm contributed to this report.