An Act to Establish a Date to Begin Voting by Absentee Ballot in the Presence of the Clerk
Summary
LD 158 changes Maine’s absentee voting law by setting a specific start date for in-person absentee voting at the clerk’s office. Under the bill, a voter may cast an absentee ballot in the presence of the clerk beginning 30 days before an election, during the clerk’s regular office hours, without first completing a separate absentee ballot application. The clerk must verify the voter’s identity using the voter’s residence address and year of birth, witness the ballot affidavit, and mark the envelope to show the ballot was cast in the clerk’s presence.
The bill also preserves and clarifies the existing electioneering restrictions around municipal offices during the absentee voting period. It prohibits campaign advertising material in the clerk’s office and on public property within 250 feet of the entrance to the building where the clerk’s office is located, while continuing to allow certain campaign material on private property, on vehicles passing through or parked at the municipal office, and small campaign buttons worn by people conducting municipal business or voting absentee.
Impact
This law amends 21-A MRSA §753-B, the section governing absentee voting in the presence of the clerk. Its practical effect is to standardize when voters may use this method and to align the timing of the voting window with the 30-day pre-election period, while keeping the clerk’s verification and witnessing duties in place. It affects municipal clerks, absentee voters, and campaign activity near municipal offices by maintaining the buffer-zone restrictions on election-related advertising.
Sentiment
The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded vote details, so there is no documented debate or roll-call pattern to indicate strong support or opposition. The fact that the bill was enacted as Public Law suggests it ultimately received sufficient legislative and gubernatorial approval. Based on the text, the measure appears administrative and procedural rather than highly controversial.
Contention
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. The only potentially sensitive issue apparent from the bill text is the regulation of campaign advertising near clerk offices during absentee voting, including the 250-foot restriction and the distinction between public and private property. Any disagreement would likely have centered on balancing voter access and orderly administration against free-expression or campaign-access concerns, but no explicit objections are included here.
In voting by qualified absentee electors, further providing for applications for official absentee ballots, for date of application for absentee ballot, for envelopes for official absentee ballots and for voting by absentee electors and providing for secure ballot return receptacles; and, in voting by qualified mail-in electors, further providing for applications for official mail-in ballots, for date of application for mail-in ballot, for approval of application for mail-in ballot, for envelopes for official mail-in ballots and for voting by mail-in electors.
Voting, absentee voting, disabled, blind, or voters unable to read may designate individual to deliver voter's absentee ballot application and absentee ballot to absentee election manager