By Connie Garber
Voters will see two referendum questions on the ballot this Election Day, Nov. 4. The first would change voter ID and absentee voting rules and the second would create a process by which family members could petition the courts to temporarily remove weapons from an individual at risk of harm to themselves or others.
Since in-person absentee voting has already begun, here’s information to help you understand the two questions:
Question 1: “An Act to Require an Individual to Present Photographic Identification for the Purpose of Voting”
Do you want to change Maine election laws to eliminate two days of absentee voting, prohibit requests for absentee ballots by phone or family members, end ongoing absentee voter status for seniors and people with disabilities, ban prepaid postage on absentee ballot return envelopes, limit the number of drop boxes, require voters to show certain photo ID before voting, and make other changes to our elections?
If passed this would make a number of changes to the way votes are cast in Maine. It would:
- Require all voters to present photo identification to vote in person or absentee. Valid forms of photo ID would be a Maine driver’s license, non-driver identification card, or interim identification card; a U.S. passport or passport card; or a military or veteran identification card, but not a student ID, Tribal ID or Maine Department of Corrections-issued ID.
- Allow voters from the same municipality to challenge the validity of another person’s ballot for alleged failure to comply with the ID law or for a non-matching signature on an absentee ballot envelope.
- Repeal Maine’s current law that allows an immediate family member to request an absentee ballot on behalf of a voter and allows a voter to request an absentee ballot by telephone. Voters would be required to request an absentee ballot electronically or in person themselves.
- Eliminate two days of absentee voting.
- Repeal Maine’s current program where a senior or person with disabilities can register once to vote absentee and be automatically sent an absentee ballot each election. Voters, regardless of age or ability, would have to request an absentee ballot for each election.
- Limit each municipality to one ballot drop box and require a bipartisan, two-person team to access ballots from that drop box instead of the city or town clerk or a member of their staff.
The Legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal and Program Review estimated that the free non-driver ID cards (now sold for $5 by the Secretary of State) would decrease the state’s highway fund by about $29,000 annually. The Secretary of State’s office, according to OFPR, estimated the voter ID requirement would cost the state more than $1.3 million the first fiscal year and about $156,000 every following year.
The law would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
Question 2: “An Act to Protect Maine Communities by Enacting the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act”
Do you want to allow courts to temporarily prohibit a person from having dangerous weapons if law enforcement, family, or household members show that the person poses a significant danger of causing physical injury to themselves or others?
If passed, the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act would allow family members or law enforcement to petition the courts to temporarily remove weapons from an individual deemed at risk of harming themselves or others and temporarily prohibit them from possessing or purchasing firearms.
The change would be that family members would be able to petition the courts to temporarily take away a person’s weapons, not allowed under the current yellow flag law, enacted in 2020. Law enforcement officers were given the ability to obtain a warrant to take someone into protective custody following the Lewiston mass shootings in 2023.
Current law has a law enforcement officer first bringing a person into protective custody (not an arrest), then asking for a behavioral health practitioner’s assessment that a person may hurt themselves or others. Only then can a weapons restriction order or extreme risk protection order be brought to a judge.
The other change would be that a red flag order would not require a behavioral health assessment.
If passed, the red flag law would be a second method of temporarily confiscating weapons from people deemed to be a danger in addition to the yellow flag law.
If passed, the Administrative Office of the Courts, via OFPR, estimated a one-time cost of $76,000 to the Maine Judicial Branch for “significant system programming updates” and temporary staffing for implementation. The Administrative Office estimated that the red flag law would require an additional annual appropriation of approximately $1.1 million for six new positions to handle the probable increased workload. OFPR expects state and local law enforcement agencies to see some increased costs for collection and storage of firearms.
The law would go into effect 30 days after the governor makes a public proclamation of the result, which must be within 10 days of the election. The governor has no veto power on legislation enacted via a citizen initiative.
FMI: MaineCitizensGuide2025.pdf
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