On Tuesday, Gov. Janet Mills (D) officially certified the results of the statewide referendum election held earlier this month.
Following months of intense campaigning, the majority of Maine voters cast their ballots on Questions 1 and 2 at the start of November.
Roughly the same share of Mainers voted to reject the series of election reform measures proposed in Question 1 as expressed support for the new gun control law proposed in Question 2.
This year’s off-cycle election drew a substantial turnout of 47.4 percent according to the numbers reported Tuesday by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, representing 492,008 ballots in total.
Gov. Mills made official the election results this week and offered a brief statement concerning the passage of Question 2, a proposal of which she had been a vocal opponent during this past election cycle.
“Like proponents of Question 2, I share the goal of strengthening public safety and protecting Maine people,” she wrote, “and, to that end, I will propose funding to implement the law as part of my supplemental budget in January and my Administration will work with law enforcement and the courts to implement the new law alongside our existing Extreme Risk Protection Order law, in order to carry out the will of the Maine people.”
Mills also noted that, in accordance with the Maine Constitution, she will be asking the Legislature in her upcoming supplemental budget to provide the funding necessary to implement the policies outlined in Question 2.
Because the citizens initiative requires funding in order to be implemented, the new law will not take effect until 45 days after the Legislature reconvenes next year.
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Otherwise known as an “Extreme Risk Protective Order” (ERPO), a red flag law empowers law enforcement to disarm an individual who family members, friends or others say poses a risk to themselves or the community at large.
As a result of this November’s election, Maine will now be joining a coalition of 21 other states that currently have Red Flag, or ERPO, laws in effect.
[RELATED: Mainers Approve Red Flag Gun Control Law as Gun Groups Prep Legal Challenge]
In 2020, the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM) worked together with Gov. Janet Mills (D) to pass a unique Yellow Flag law, which is also intended to remove firearms from individuals who might use them to harm themselves or others.
This specially crafted measure, which also takes risk into account—seen by some as a compromise move—acknowledges the danger posed by mentally ill persons having access to a gun, requiring an evaluation of mental illness before authorities can act. Others said the Yellow Flag provides due process where the Red Flag doesn’t.
The red flag law proposed in Question 2 allows relatives to directly petition courts to take away a person’s guns if they feel their family member poses a threat.
[RELATED: Botched Voter ID for Maine Effort Tanks on Election Day]
Billed primarily as a voter ID measure, the now-rejected legislation proposed under Question 1 would have required Mainers to present identification when casting their ballots while also making a number of changes to the state’s absentee voting laws.
For anyone who does not already have one of the several qualifying forms of identification — including a driver’s license, passport, or military ID — would have been eligible to obtain a no-cost non-driver identification card.
This bill would also have changed Maine’s absentee voter program, eliminated the ability to request an absentee ballot over the phone, and altered some of the rules surrounding absentee ballot drop boxes.
Because of this duality, the campaigns for and against the measure did not often come into conversation with one another. Instead, each side opted to focus in on different aspects of the proposed measure, a dichotomy embodied by the names of the ballot question committees formed around Question 1: Voter ID for ME and Save Absentee Voting.
