Maine Require Voter Photo ID and Change Absentee Ballot and Dropbox Rules Initiative (2025)
| Maine Require Voter Photo Identification Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 4, 2025 | |
| Topic Voting policy measures | |
| Status Certified to the legislature | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Maine Require Voter Photo Identification Initiative may appear on the ballot in Maine as an indirect initiated state statute on November 4, 2025.
This measure would require a voter to present photo identification to vote.[1]
Measure design
Under this measure, voters are required to present photo identification to an election clerk when they vote. If voting by absentee ballot, a voter must provide a drivers license or nondriver identification card number on the absentee ballot, or a copy of their photo identification. Photo identification can include a Maine drivers license, a Maine nondriver identification card, a Maine interim identification form, a United States passport, a United States passport card, a United States Military identification card, a Maine National Guard identification card, or a United States Department of Veteran Affairs identification card.[1]
If a voter does not have photo ID or is unable to present a voter ID, a voter can cast a challenged ballot. For the challenged ballot to be counted, the voter must present photo identification to the election clerk within four days after the date of the election. An exception to the photo identification requirement exists for voters who have a religious objection to being photographed. The voter must complete an affidavit of religious objection, and the registrar will transmit the affidavit to the secretary of state.[1]
Under this measure, the secretary of state may not impose a fee for the issuance of a nondriver photo identification when an individual does not have a valid Maine drivers license.[1]
Under this measure, municipalities may now only have one secured dropbox, and can no longer install additional secured dropboxes. Municipal clerks or designees will no longer possess the key to the drop box, but a bipartisan team of election officials. The bipartisan team will be responsible for removing absentee ballots from the drop boxes.[1]
The measure would provide that a voter can request an absentee ballot for an election by delivering a written application to the registrar of the municipality in which the voter’s voting residence is located. Voters who apply for an absentee ballot must also provide a copy of their photo identification to their application, or provide their drivers license or nondriver identification card number. The measure would remove a provision where voters can request an absentee ballot by telephone, and also remove a provision where voters can automatically receive absentee ballots for each election without submitting a separate request for each election. The measure would change the deadline to request absentee ballot from third business day before an election to the seventh business day before an election.[1]
Under this measure, in order for a third person to delivered or returned an absentee ballot on behalf of a voter, the voter must provide all of the third person’s information, including their photo ID, in their absentee ballot application.[1]
Text of measure
Full text
The full text of the ballot measure is available here.
Support
Voter ID for ME is the campaign registered to support the initiative.
Supporters
Officials
- State Rep. Laurel Libby (R)
Organizations
Arguments
Oppose
Opponents
Officials
- Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D)
Organizations
Arguments
Campaign finance
Voter ID for ME is the campaign registered in support of the initiative.[2]
| Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions | Cash Expenditures | Total Expenditures | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support | $27,963.50 | $2,465.41 | $30,428.91 | $23,183.35 | $25,648.76 |
| Oppose | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Total | $27,963.50 | $2,465.41 | $30,428.91 | $23,183.35 | $25,648.76 |
Support
The following table includes contribution and expenditure totals for the committees in support of the measure.[2]
| Committees in support of Require Voter Photo Identification Initiative | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Committee | Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions | Cash Expenditures | Total Expenditures |
| Voter ID for ME | $27,963.50 | $2,465.41 | $30,428.91 | $23,183.35 | $25,648.76 |
| Total | $27,963.50 | $2,465.41 | $30,428.91 | $23,183.35 | $25,648.76 |
Donors
The following were the top donors who contributed to the support committees.[2]
| Donor | Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions |
|---|---|---|---|
| For Our Future | $10,000.00 | $0.00 | $10,000.00 |
Methodology
To read Ballotpedia's methodology for covering ballot measure campaign finance information, click here.
Background
- See also: Voting policy measures on the ballot
Ballot measures related to voter identification are on the ballot in Maine, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin for elections in 2025 and 2026. Nevada Question 7 needs to be approved a second time in 2026 after it was approved in 2024. Three measures are constitutional amendments, as opposed to statutory requirements. Constitutional amendments require voter approval, which is a higher threshold to enact or change them than statutory requirements that can be changed by a legislative vote. The Maine initiative is a statutory requirement.
| State | Year | Ballot Measure | Type | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada | 2026 | Nevada Question 7 | Initiated constitutional amendment | On the ballot |
| North Carolina | 2026 | North Carolina Require Voter Identification Amendment | Legislatively referred constitutional amendment | On the ballot |
| Wisconsin | 2025 | Wisconsin Question 1 | Legislatively referred constitutional amendment | On the ballot |
Between 2004 and 2024, voters in nine states decided on 10 ballot measures related to voter identification. All but two measures in Arizona and Minnesota were approved. Six states added a photo ID voter requirement to their respective state constitutions, and two states (Arizona and Oklahoma) passed statutory requirements. The average "yes" vote was 67.42%. The table below lists the measures by state, year, and type.
| State | Year | Measure | Type | Yes (%) | No (%) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 2004 | Proposition 200 | Statutory | 55.64% | 44.36% | |
| Arizona | 2022 | Proposition 309 | Statutory | 49.62% | 50.38% | |
| Arkansas | 2018 | Issue 2 | Constitutional | 79.47% | 20.53% | |
| Minnesota | 2012 | Amendment 2 | Constitutional | 46.16% | 53.84% | |
| Mississippi | 2011 | Initiative 27 | Constitutional | 62.07% | 37.93% | |
| Missouri | 2016 | Amendment 6 | Constitutional | 63.01% | 36.99% | |
| Nebraska | 2022 | Initiative 432 | Constitutional | 65.45% | 34.55% | |
| Nevada | 2024 | Question 7 | Constitutional | 73.23% | 26.77% | |
| North Carolina | 2018 | Voter ID Amendment | Constitutional | 79.47% | 20.53% | |
| Oklahoma | 2010 | Question 746 | Statutory | 74.34% | 25.66% | |
| Average | 64.85% | 35.15% |
Voter identification laws by state
- See also: Voter identification laws by state
As of November 2024, 35 states required voters to present identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day, but many states provide for exceptions to these rules. Of these states, 23 required voters to present identification containing a photograph, with certain exceptions, and 12 states did not explicitly require photo identification. The remaining 15 states did not require voters to present identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day.
In the map below, states that require registered voters to present identification at the polls on Election Day or that require poll workers to request identification from a vote are classified as states requiring identification. Some of these states provide for exceptions to these requirements. See the table below the map for more details. Follow the links provided for additional information about voter identification in each state.
Several states that do not require identification generally require first-time voters to present identification at the polls. Other states that don't generally require identification may require it if the voter did not provide proper identification to register. Federal law requires newly registered voters to provide either a driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security Numbers at the time of registration. Many states that require identification allow voters to cast provisional ballots if they do not have the required identification. Hover over each state in the map below for more details.
Path to the ballot
Process in Maine
In Maine, the number of signatures required to qualify an indirect initiated state statute for the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the total votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Petitions can be circulated for up to 18 months, but signatures must be no more than one year old to be valid. Signatures must be filed with the secretary by the 50th day of the first regular legislative session or the 25th day of the second regular session. Maine's initiative process is indirect, which means sufficient initiative petitions first go to the legislature and only go to the ballot if the legislature rejects or does not act on the initiative.
The requirements to get an initiated state statute certified for the 2025 ballot:
- Signatures: 67,682 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was January 23, 2025.
Each petition signature is certified by the local registrar of voters. The signatures are then submitted to the secretary of state. If enough signatures are verified, the initiatives are sent to the legislature. If the legislature approves the initiative, it becomes law. If the legislature does not act on the initiative or rejects it, the initiative goes on the ballot. The legislature may submit "any amended form, substitute, or recommendation" to the people alongside the initiative; this alternative is treated as a competing measure.
Stages of this ballot initiative
- The ballot initiative was filed with the Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, and approved to circulate on May 16, 2024.[4]
- On January 6, 2025, Voter ID for ME, the organization supporting the initiative, submitted more than 170,000 signatures to the secretary of state's office.[5]
- On February 19, 2025, Secretary of State Bellows (D) announced that 86,904 signatures were found to be valid. The initiative was then certified to the State Legislature.[6]
See also
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Maine.gov, "Photo ID Initiative Text," accessed January 24, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Maine Ethics Commission, "Voter ID for ME," accessed January 28, 2025
- ↑ In Nevada, initiated constitutional amendments need to be approved at two consecutive elections. Nevadans will decide on this again in 2026.
- ↑ Maine.gov, "Citizens Initiatives & People's Veto," accessed June 1, 2024
- ↑ The Maine Wire, "Maine Secretary of State Receives 170k+ Petition Signatures for Voter ID Citizens Initiative," January 6, 2025
- ↑ Maine.gov, "Citizen initiative found valid with 86,904 signatures," February 19, 2025
