Voter Registration - ID Requirement - Acceptable Forms of ID - In-Person Early Voting - Absentee Voting - Provisional Voting - Sample Ballots - Type of Primary

State Contact Information
Office of the Secretary of State
101 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0101
Phone: (207) 624-7650
Fax: (555) 000-5100
Web: www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/
Email: CEC.Elections@maine.gov

Voter Registration
To register, you must be a United States citizen, at least 17 years of age (but 18 years old to vote), and live in Maine.

You can register to vote at your town office or city hall, through any Motor Vehicle branch office, in most state & federal social service agencies, or at voter registration drives.
Completed voter registration cards may be hand delivered or mailed to your town office or city hall, or sent to the Secretary of State's Office in Augusta.

It's never too late to register to vote in Maine. You can register to vote until, and including, Election Day. There is no cut-off date for registering to vote in person at your town office or city hall. If you want to register to vote by mail, the cut-off date is the close of business on the 21st day before the election.

ID Requirement
First-Time Voters
The federal Help America Vote Act mandates that all states require identification from first-time voters who registered to vote by mail and did not provide verification of their identification with their mail-in voter registration.

Acceptable Forms of ID
Voters casting a ballot in-person must provide proof of residency or identity by presenting any of the following documents described in either paragraph 1 or 2. Residence is that place where the person has established a fixed and principal home to which the person, whenever temporarily absent, intends to return.
The registrar may consider the following factors (as set forth in section 112) in determining whether a person has established and maintains a voting residence in the municipality:

• A direct statement of intention by the person(an "oath");
• The location of any dwelling currently occupied by the person;
• The place where any motor vehicle owned by the person is registered;
• The residence address, not a post office box, shown on a current income tax return;
• The residence address, not a post office box, where the person receives mail;
• The residence address, not a post office box, shown on any motor vehicle operator's license the person holds;
• The receipt of any public benefit conditioned upon residency, defined substantially as provided in this subsection; or
• Any other objective facts tending to indicate a person's place of residence.

No one may register to vote in more than one place at the same time. When completing a voter registration application, the voter must provide an address for previous registration, or if never registered to vote in another jurisdiction, must write "none" in the space provided.

In-Person Early Voting (open)

You may vote absentee at the clerk's office as soon as absentee ballots are available. Absentee ballots are available 30 to 45 days before the election at the municipal clerk's office. You don't need to complete an application if you vote in person at the clerk's office.

Absentee Voting/Vote by Mail (open)
Any registered voter may cast an absentee ballot instead of voting in person at a voting place on Election Day.
You don't need to have a specific reason or be unable to vote at the polls on Election Day to receive an absentee ballot.
All you have to do is complete an absentee ballot application to get a ballot and deliver the ballot back to the municipal clerk.
Absentee ballots may be requested beginning 3 months before Election Day. Make your request early to allow enough time for the ballot to be mailed to you.
Contact the municipal clerk in the town or city where you are registered to vote.
You can make a telephone request for your own ballot, which will be mailed to the address you provide to the clerk.
Some municipalities allow you to request your own ballot by email. To see if the municipality where you are registered to vote will allow this, click here.
You can make a written request by completing an absentee ballot application. Additionally, you can obtain a ballot for an immediate family member in this same way. A ballot will be mailed to the voter directly or to an immediate family member making the request. Your municipal clerk can tell you who is considered an immediate family member under the law.

NOTE: Ballots obtained by the voter or an immediate family member do not require witnesses, unless the voter receives assistance from another person in reading or marking the ballot.
Applications are available from the municipal clerk or online.

Provisional Voting (in precinct/within jurisdiction/county)

Maine has a challenged ballot procedure: A challenged ballot can be cast when a voter, whose name does not appear on the voting list, but who affirms that the voter is eligible to vote in the municipality. (A completed, signed voter registration application is the voter's affirmation.) If the challenger meets the requirements for a proper challenge, the warden completes the Challenge Affidavit Certificate, except for the ballot #. The warden administers the oath to the challenger. The warden and the challenger then sign the certificate. The warden completes the process, by writing the secret number on the ballot (in the upper right corner of the back of the ballot) and the challenge certificate. The warden returns the ballot to the voter, along with a copy of the attached document entitled "Information for Voters Casting a Challenged Ballot in Maine". The voter may then proceed to vote in the usual manner. Challenged ballots are counted in the same manner as regular ballots. No decision will be made on the challenge unless a recount occurs, and the challenged ballots could affect the outcome of the election.

Sample Ballots
At least 7 days before an election, county clerks post a sample ballot, in a conspicuous, public place in each voting district. Within a reasonable time before the election, the Secretary of State makes sample ballots available for publication in all newspapers having general circulation in the area to which the ballots pertain.

Type of Primary (closed)
Only voters enrolled in a political party can participate in a Primary Election and they can only vote for candidates within their party.