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Election Denial in Maine

  • 0 Election Deniers currently hold statewide office with election oversight power.

  • 1 Election Denier has held, or run for, statewide office since 2020.

The landscape in Maine

Maine is proof that Election Deniers don’t have to control election oversight to cause havoc. As pro-democracy Secretary of State Shenna Bellows described, Election Deniers have swamped election officials’ offices across the state with frivolous litigation threats and floods of identical, conspiracy-backed records requests.

As Bellows told Maine Public, every hour that officials have to spend dealing with these sham requests is time they could be spending administering elections and improving voters’ election experience. Doing their jobs, in other words.

Maine has also faced down election denial from a prominent former official, even before the latest wave of Trump era election conspiracies. Former Governor Paul LePage, who was in office from 2011 to 2019 and ran unsuccessfully in 2022, has a long history of undermining the state’s election results during and after his tenure.

Meanwhile, Maine has recently taken steps to protect its election administrators. A law enacted in 2022 made it a crime to threaten an election official.

0 Election Deniers hold statewide Office right now.

Elections are run by the states. The Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State are the state officials responsible for overseeing elections. In Maine, the Secretary of State is appointed by the legislature. It’s up to them to make sure the will of the people is always respected.

Read more about The Roles of Our Elected Officials in Elections

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How Maine compares

Every state runs its own elections, with its own laws and processes. Check out how Maine compares with other states in its region when it comes to Election Deniers holding state election administration jobs.

Election Denial in New England States

Sitting official is an Election Denier

  1. In Maine, the Secretary of State is appointed by the legislature.
  2. In New Hampshire, the Secretary of State is appointed by the legislature.

Voter turnout over time

Voters are always the backstop against election denial, whether Election Deniers are already in office or vying for power. It’s important to turn out for every election in your state—and to vote in every race on your ballot. Downballot races, like contests for Attorney General and Secretary of State, have historically drawn fewer voters, even though the positions are critical to keeping elections free, fair, and secure. Here’s a look at voter participation in Maine elections over time. Notice that in years with several important positions up for election, some voters choose not to vote in every race.

Voter Participation in Maine Since 2016

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President
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Senator
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Governor
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Attorney General
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Secretary of State
  1. 2016 Presidential

    • President had a 71% voter turnout rate

  2. 2018 Midterm

    • Senator had a 60% voter turnout rate

    • Governor had a 60% voter turnout rate

  3. 2020 Presidential

    • President had a 71% voter turnout rate

    • Senator had a 77% voter turnout rate

Voter turnout

Data on the number of votes cast in each race are from state elections depositories, supplemented with data from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), House Election Statistics, and The Book of States. Rates are calculated using the Census’s Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP) estimates. Rates will be updated when the Census releases new CVAP data for 2022.

Beyond the ballot box

Each year, state legislators introduce thousands of bills related to elections. And in the past few years, we’ve identified a concerning trend. Across the country, state legislatures are considering bills that would make it easier for partisan actors to manipulate an election, and maybe even overturn the will of the people. We’re tracking these bills along with our partners in an ongoing series of reports called “A Democracy Crisis in the Making.” In 2023 alone, through early May, we tracked 185 bills introduced in 38 state legislatures that would politicize, criminalize, or interfere with elections. 

The anti-democracy playbook is simple: change the rules and change the referees, in order to change the results. These bills go hand-in-hand with the Election Denier movement: They’re about taking power away from voters and making it harder for trusted election officials to do their jobs.

Read the full report

Legislative Interference in Maine by Category

As of May 3, 2023, 2 bills had been introduced or were under consideration in Maine. None have been enacted or adopted and none have been vetoed after passing.

These bills show that the threat to elections in Maine, and all across the country, goes well beyond the ballot box.

  • Creating unworkable burdens in election administration.
    These bills would interfere with the basic procedures of election administration, increasing the risk of chaos and delay and enabling misleading claims of irregularity.
  • Seizing power over election responsibilities.
    These bills would shift election administration responsibilities away from professional, nonpartisan officials and toward partisan actors in the legislature.
  • Usurping control over election results.
    These bills would give legislators or other state officials direct control over election outcomes.
  • Requiring partisan or unprofessional election “audits” or reviews.
    These bills would establish vague post-election review schemes without the professional standards of traditional audits.
  • Imposing disproportionate criminal or other penalties.
    These bills would create or expand penalties for election officials in the ordinary execution of their jobs, including criminalizing inadvertent mistakes.