Party-line votes in both the House and Senate earlier this week killed a bill that would have required Maine voters to present a photo ID when casting their ballots, whether that be in person or absentee, starting on January 1, 2024.
The bill, LD 1365, listed a number of eligible types of photo identification, including a drivers license, state ID, United States passport, military ID, or permit to carry a concealed handgun.
Free voter identification cards would have been made available to those who wished to vote but did not have access to one of the other eligible forms of ID.
Prohibited by the bill, however, were photo IDs issued by Maine colleges or universities.
Rep. Reagan Paul (R-Winterport), the bill’s sponsor, testified before the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs.
“Voter ID laws do not suppress anyone’s vote, do not harm minorities, do not change turnout, and in reality election fraud often goes undetected and even when it is discovered, investigators and prosecutors often opt to take no action,” Rep. Paul said. “Voting is sacred and should be treated as such. Let’s do our duty and honor our oath first and foremost to uphold the Constitution.”
Maine Secretary of State Shanna Bellows (D) testified in opposition to the bill, citing concerns over election day logistics, as well as the potential costs and administrative burdens associated with providing free voter identification cards.
Bellows also estimated in her testimony that the cost to implement the bill would be approximately $1.1 million, once costs such as promotion and technological updates were taken into consideration.
She further argued that the bill “seeks to solve a problem that does not exist.”
In response to this objection, Paul testified that in an opinion written by Maine Superior Court Justice William Stokes it was said that the State has an “important interest in deterring and preventing election fraud” regardless of how prevalent the phenomenon may or may not be.
Bellows also suggested that the bill would “disproportionately disenfranchise Mainers” from “traditionally marginalized communities.”
Paul also responded to this objection in her testimony, arguing that the studies upon often cited to support such claims have been proven faulty and unreliable.
Elder rights groups, such as AARP and Legal Services for the Elderly, also raised concerns about the bill, suggesting that since many of the forms of photo identification listed in the legislation become invalid over time, older Mainers may struggle to obtain unexpired documentation in order to cast their ballots.
Rebecca Lambert of the Maine Municipal Association offered testimony neither for nor against the bill.
Lambert stated that requiring photo identification is becoming a “ubiquitous” practice and “most residents of voting age currently possess a form of identification” so the requirement “would not present a hardship for the majority.” She nonetheless argues that there would still be the possibility that “this bill could very well lead to eligible voters being excluded.”
She also pointed out that this legislation would have made it necessary “for election clerks to receive adequate training” to evaluate the validity of a voter’s identification, as well as to establish “a clear process for appeals of those decisions.”
According to a 2022 Gallup poll, 79 percent of Americans support requiring a photo ID in order to vote.
Currently, nineteen states have some form of photo identification requirement in place.
Voter ID is just one of many Republican-backed election integrity initiatives that failed this year.
1 Comment
According to websites Ballotpedia and the National Conference of State Legislatures, another 16 states have requirements for non-photo ID requirement to vote. This is wrong.