Maine voters will weigh in this fall on two hot-button political issues of national prominence — gun safety and increasing voting restrictions.

And so far, funding for each of the two referendums reflects that national profile, with just over half of all of the combined donations coming from out-of-state sources.

Contributions to the two referendum campaigns total nearly $1.9 million combined, including $150,000 of in-kind donations, which typically mean staff time. Of that, 52%, or $986,000, came from out of state, including more than $44,000 of in-kind donations.

Fundraising in support of the referendum to make major voting changes, including requiring voter ID and scaling back absentee voting, has both the highest percentage and the largest amount of out-of-state contributions of any ballot committee, with 89%, or $500,000, coming from a national Republican group. Opponents, meanwhile, have received 39% of their donations, or nearly $300,000, from out of state.

Support for the referendum to establish a red flag law also is drawing a fair amount of outside contributions, at 37%, or $185,000, while the opposition campaign, comprising two separate ballot committees, is fueled almost entirely with in-state money — at least so far — with less than 3%, or $500, coming from donors outside of Maine.

After Labor Day, additional donors and independent groups are expected to ramp up spending heavily to influence voters, but here’s an early look at where each campaign is getting its support.

VOTER ID

National groups are lining up to battle over a proposal to require Mainers to present a photo ID when casting ballots, while also adding a slew of new restrictions to absentee voting.

Republicans nationwide have been pushing photo ID laws as a way to reduce voting fraud, even though studies have shown that it rarely occurs and when it does, it does not happen on a scale that would impact the outcome of elections.

Democrats argue that such proposals are designed to suppress voter turnout, especially among low-income and older voters who may not have a photo ID.

While 36 other states have some sort of voter ID law, Maine’s referendum also includes changes to absentee voting. It would 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 proposal would prohibit municipalities such as Portland and Orono from having more than one dropbox 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.

Voter ID for ME is the ballot question committee advocating for the new rules.

Although the proposal was organized and placed on the ballot by the Dinner Table political action committee, which is led by Alex Titcomb and associated with Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, who has proven to be a prolific fundraiser, the ballot committee has received nearly all of its funding so far from the Republican State Leadership Committee, a national group focused on state level Republicans and causes.

The RSLC PAC is responsible for $500,000 of the committee’s $555,000 campaign donations, including in-kind contributions. For Our Future, another PAC controlled by Titcomb and funded by national conservative activist Leonard Leo‘s Concord Fund, donated $10,000. And former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin’s former congressional campaign donated $2,000.

Titcomb, who manages the voter ID campaign, noted that it has received contributions from nearly 700 individual donors from Maine, with most people giving $50 or less, demonstrating grassroots support for the measure.

National Democratic groups, meanwhile, are lining up against the proposal. The Democratic Governors Association and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have each formed local ballot committees to spend independently during the campaign. Each has spent $51,409 on legal services.

The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee also had registered as a local ballot committee to spend independently, but reported no financial activity as of July.

Save Maine Absentee Voting is the primary ballot committee opposing the proposal. Of the $605,000 raised, more than half came from individuals, primarily wealthy donors cutting large checks, as well as $245,000 from out-of-state and in-state nonprofits that donated not only cash, but in-kind support of staff and grassroots organizing.

The committee’s largest out-of-state sources were the Democracy Fund Voice, a left-of-center advocacy group associated with eBay founder and Chairman Pierre Omidyar that donated $100,000, and State Democracy Action Fund, a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a dark money liberal advocacy group, which donated $75,000.

Former state Senate President Justin Alfond, of Portland, is the largest individual contributor so far, donating $130,000. Other major individual donors include: Michael Lambert, a Portland real estate professional, $85,000; North Yarmouth resident Linzee Weld, $25,000; Robert C.S. Monk, a Portland real estate professional, $25,000; John Coleman, chairman of Portland’s The VIA Agency, $20,000; and Portland consultant Elizabeth DeClucia-Harting, $20,000.

Nonprofits donating in-kind contributions of staffing and grassroots organizing including: ACLU of Maine, Maine Conservation Voters, League of Women Voters, Democracy Maine, Maine Service Employees Association Local 1989, Maine Votes and Maine Voices Network, among others.

RED FLAG

Proponents of the proposal for Maine to adopt a so-called red flag law, allowing family members to directly petition a court to temporarily restrict someone’s access to firearms because they are a danger to themselves or others, have a significant fundraising advantage over opponents and are also receiving a more than a third of their funding from out of state.

Two ballot committees opposing the measure, Protect ME — No Red Flag and Keep Maine Safe, have raised less than $20,000 combined, including only $500 from out-of-state donors.

The main supporting PAC — Safe Schools, Safe Communities — has received nearly $500,000. The Maine Gun Safety Coalition, which is advocating for the red flag law, has loaned the campaign $190,000.

David Trahan, the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine and leader of Protect ME — No Red Flag, said he’s not surprised by the outside money coming into the state. He said the red flag proposal has long been a priority for national gun safety advocates.

Maine considered a red flag law in 2018, but instead enacted what is known as a yellow flag law in 2019. That law only allows police to petition a court to temporarily restrict access to firearms and only after an individual has had a mental health evaluation.

Interest in a red flag law, which exists in 21 other states and the District of Columbia, was renewed after the October 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston.

Trahan expects that supporters of the red flag referendum will have a significant fundraising advantage but hopes Mainers will reject the law.

Having more money doesn’t necessarily mean an inevitable victory, but it does make it easier for a campaign to get out its message. And on that measure, proponents have a huge advantage.

Of the amount raised by Safe Schools, Safe Communities, $71,000 has been in-kind donations of staff time and about $110,000 in cash came from individual donors, including $26,000 from 15 out-of-state residents, while $319,000 came from nonprofits, including $126,500 from out of state.

The campaign’s two largest donors, meanwhile, are out-of-state entities.

The Global Impact Social Welfare Fund donated $75,000, while the Alliance for Gun Responsibility, which promoted strict gun policies in Washington state and partnered with other gun safety groups, including former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety, donated $51,500.