U.S. Senator Susan Collins sharply criticized on Monday morning the handling of ballots found improperly delivered to a residence in Newburgh, calling for an independent investigation and raising serious questions about election integrity in Maine.
“It’s alarming that these ballots just showed up,” Collins told the Maine Wire. “How did they get there, who sent them, what in the world are ballots being delivered to a house in Newburgh and are there more out there?”
The senator’s comments preceded Secretary of State Shenna Bellows hastily calling a news conference in Augusta that afternoon.
Highlighting the urgency of the matter, Collins continued: “We need independent law enforcement to take a look into this. I think the FBI should be involved, ballot security is extremely important.”
She further questioned the role of state officials in managing the inquiry. “There should never be absentee ballots floating around out there, what in the world?” she said. “The Secretary of State should step aside. We need an independent investigation. We need to find out how this happened.”
Collins noted a conflict of interest: Maine’s Secretary of State Shannon Bellows, who is currently overseeing the state’s internal review, is also a candidate for Governor.
“To have credibility, we need an investigation outside the Secretary of State’s office,” she stated.
The controversy over the misplaced absentee ballots comes amid broader national attention on election security and the proper chain of custody for ballots. Though Maine is widely regarded as having robust safeguards, this incident is testing the state’s systems and public trust.
Collins was in Portland Monday to headline the ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly renovated American Red Cross of Northern New England facility. She was joined there by US Senator Angus King (I-ME), along with Red Cross staff, and volunteers to celebrate upgrades intended to increase disaster readiness, training capacity and storage for response supplies.
In fiscal year 2022, Collins secured $871,000 in federal funding to support the project.
When Senator Angus King was asked by the Maine Wire about the ballot scandal, he replied “I don’t know anything about it, I’m just being honest.”
