Maine Secretary of State Receives 170k+ Petition Signatures for Voter ID Citizens Initiative

Maine’s Secretary of State received more than 170,000 petition signatures on Monday from a conservative group that is looking to put a Voter ID referendum question on the ballot in November.

Voter ID for ME, an organization led by Dinner Table Executive Director Alex Titcomb and co-founder Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn), spoke at the Maine State House prior to the submitting the signatures along with a crowd of volunteers who assisted with the massive logistical effort.

According to Titcomb, the entire signature collection effort was done on a volunteer basis and with a budget of less than $25,000—a feat that’s virtually unheard of in a state that has seen no shortage of ballot initiative efforts.

“This is an issue we’ve seen before the legislature time and time again over the last decade, and every single time, the Democratic majority in power has blocked this legislation,” said Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn).

“Requiring an ID to vote is not radical; it’s not extreme; it’s common sense, and yet the legislature has refused to act,” she added.

Now that the Dinner Table political action committee’s (PAC) has submitted the signatures to Maine’s Secretary of State, the next step in the process is for the Secretary’s office to validate the signatures and then begin drafting the language of the question voters will see in November.

[RELATED: Dinner Table Delivers: Conservative Group Aims to Put Voter ID on Maine’s Ballot for 2025 Election…]

From Titcomb and Libby’s perspective, the Voter ID for ME initiative gave everyday Mainers the opportunity to make their voices heard on an overwhelmingly popular policy, despite long-standing opposition from Democrats in the state legislature.

Libby pointed out that, while Maine’s legislative majority has repeatedly voted down attempts for more secure elections, claiming the law will lead to voter suppression, they are merely using a “scare tactic.”

In reality, she pointed out that Maine is an outlier in its failure to implement some form of voter ID laws, with 36 other states, both Republican and Democrat-led, having already instituted some form of voter ID laws.

Under Maine law, a citizens initiative petition must receive signatures equal to 10 percent of the number of votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election.

The state required the Dinner Table to submit nearly 68,000 signatures to get their measure on the ballot, meaning the PAC more than doubled the required number.

Photo ID requirements have long been championed by many Republican politicians as necessary common-sense measures to ensure the security of U.S. elections and are popular among the vast majority of Americans.

[RELATED: The Vast Majority of Americans Favor Photo ID Requirements, Proof of Citizenship for Voting: Gallup…]

An October poll from Gallup found that a staggering 84 percent of Americans support voter ID laws, despite Democratic rhetoric about voter suppression.

Asked about the remaining obstacles to making Voter ID law in Maine, Titcomb was optimistic.

“I don’t think there are any hurdles to getting this passed, quite frankly. It’s an issue that’s been polling 70 plus percent,” he said.

While celebrating the success of the grassroots citizens’ initiative, Titcomb provided details on the campaign that led them to where they are now.

According to Titcomb, the effort collected signatures from all 16 counties and 294 municipalities, numbers Titcomb says are unheard of for any other recent citizens’ initiatives. In total, 681 people, both Republicans and Democrats, worked with the PAC as volunteers collecting signatures, he said.