An Act To Preserve the Integrity of the Voting Process
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0426
Committee: Legal and Veterans Affairs
Sponsors: THOMAS, CATHCART, COLWELL, DUNLAP, DUPLESSIE, NORBERT, RICHARDSON, TRAHAN, DAGGETT, MAYO
Amends: 21-A MRSA §122, 21-A MRSA §673, 21-A MRSA §674

Legislative Document 
No. 426 
H.P.334 
House of Representatives, February 4, 2003 
An Act To Preserve the Integrity of the Voting Process 
Reference to the Committee on Legal and Veterans Affairs suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative THOMAS of Orono. 
Cosponsored by Senator CATHCART of Penobscot and 
!rJ~/h.~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: Speaker COLWELL of Gardiner, DUNLAP of Old Town, DUPLESSIE of 
Westbrook, NORBERT of Portland, RICHARDSON of Brunswick, TRAHAN of Waldoboro, 
Senators: President DAGGETT of Kennebec, MAYO of Sagadahoc. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §122, sub-§9. as enacted by PL 1991, c. 466, 
§4, is amended to read: 
9. 
Regulation of registration monitors. 
Anyone who wishes 
to monitor the names and addresses of persons who are registering 
at the registrar's office or the clerk's office shall inform the 
registrar or clerk of their intent. 
Anyone who wishes to monitor 
the names and addresses of persons who are registering at the 
polling place shall inform the registrar or clerk of that intent 
by submitting a written, signed statement containing the proposed 
monitor's name, address and intent. 
The registrar or clerk may 
designate a place where a person monitoring registrations may 
stand. 
The registrar or clerk shall then announce the name and 
address of individuals registering to vote in a loud and clear 
voice. 
A 
person 
monitoring 
registrations 
shall 
direct 
any 
questions 
the person has 
to 
the registrar or clerk. 
These 
questions 
must 
be 
limited 
to 
information 
pertinent 
to 
the 
qualifications of an individual to register. 
A person monitoring 
registrations may not ask questions of individuals waiting to 
register concerning their eligibility to vote. 
A polling place 
registration monitor 
may 
not 
handle 
or 
inspect 
registration 
cards, files or other materials used by the registrar or clerk 
except as provided in section 22. 
A monitor may not inhibit the 
work of the registrar or clerk. 
I f the work of a registrar or 
clerk appears to be inhibited, the warden may request monitors in 
a polling place to reduce their number. 
A registrar or clerk may 
require 
a 
person 
monitoring 
registrations 
who 
violates 
the 
provisions of this subsection to leave the building. 
Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §673, sub-§l, as amended by PL 1997, c. 436, 
§96, is repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
1. 
Grounds; procedure. 
A challenge under this section must 
be made to the warden in the form of a signed affidavit setting 
forth 
under 
oath 
the 
challenger's 
name, 
address, 
party 
affiliation, status as a registered voter in the municipality, 
the name of the challenged voter, the reason for the challenge, 
the specific source of the information or personal knowledge upon 
which the challenge is based and a statement that the challenger 
understands that making a false statement on the affidavit is 
punishable under penalties of perjury. 
Challenges may not be 
made on unsupported allegations or allegations by anonymous 3rd 
parties. 
A. 
A voter may challenge another voter only upon personal 
knowledge 
or 
a 
reasonably 
supported 
belief 
that 
the 
challenged voter is unqualified for 
one or more of the 
following reasons, which are the sole grounds upon which 
Page l-LR08l7(1) 
challenges may be accepted by the warden. 
The challenged 
person: 
(1) 
Is not a registered voter; 
(2) 
Is not enrolled in the proper party, if voting in 
a primary election; 
(3) 
Is not gualified to be a registered voter because 
the challenged person is not: 
(a) 
At least 18 years of age; 
(b) 
A citizen of the United States; or 
(c) 
A resident of the municipality or appropriate 
electoral district within the municipality; 
(4) 
Did not properly apply for an absentee ballot; 
(6) 
Did not properly complete the affidavit on the 
absentee return envelopej 
(7) 
Did not cast the ballot or complete the affidavit 
before the appropriate witness; 
(8) 
Communicated with someone as prohibited by section 
754-A, 
subsection 
1, 
paragraph 
B 
or 
subsection 
3, 
paragraph B or Dj 
(9) 
Did not have the ballot returned to the clerk by 
the time prescribed; 
(10) 
Voted using the name of another; 
(11) 
Commi tted any other specified violation of this 
Title; or 
(12) 
Voted using the wrong ballot for the appropriate 
electoral district. 
B. 
Registration of a person as a voter without challenge 
from the registrar or clerk is presumptive evidence of the 
person's right to vote. 
Any doubt in the interpretation of 
the law must be resolved in favor of the challenged voter. 
Sec.3. 21-A MRSA §673, sub-§§5 and 6 are enacted to read: 
5. 
Voting 
during 
pendency 
of 
challenge. 
During 
the 
pendency of a challenge, other voters must be given ballots and 
permitted to vote. 
6. 
Regulation of challengers and challenges. 
A person 
challenging the right of another person to vote may not create a 
disturbance or obstruction and may not unreasonably prolong any 
challenge or inguiry. 
A. 
A challenger other than a registrar, clerk or other 
election official may not handle or inspect registration 
cards or files or other materials used by the registrar or 
clerk except as provided in section 22. 
B. 
A challenger may not make a challenge indiscriminately 
and without good cause. 
The warden shall caution challengers concerning the provisions of 
this subsection. 
If the challenger persists in disturbing or 
obstructing the process, or if challenging results in a delay 
sufficient 
to 
cause 
voters 
to 
forgo 
voting 
because 
of 
insufficient time or fear of intimidation, the warden may, 
upon 
reasonable complaint or upon the warden's own initiative, eject 
the responsible challenger. 
Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §674. sub-§l, "C and D, as repealed and 
replaced by PL 1993, c. 473, §l8 and affected by §46, are amended 
to read: 
C. 
Assists or offers to assist another person at the voting 
place in marking that other person's ballot, 
unless the 
person has been requested to do so by the warden or ward 
clerk; eli' 
D. 
Shows that person' s marked ballot to another with the 
intent to reveal how that person votedT~ 
Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §674, sub-§l.,G is enacted to read: 
G. 
Challenges 
a 
gualified 
and 
registered 
voter 
of 
a 
municipality for the purpose of annoying or delaying that 
voter. 
SUMMARY 
This bill: 
1. 
Allows persons to monitor other persons registering to 
vote at the polls; 
2. 
Requires a person challenging another person' s right to 
vote to file an affidavit listing the reason for the challenge 
and the source of the reason; 
3. 
Requires voting by others to continue while a challenge 
B 
is pending; and 
4. 
Makes ita Class E crime 
registered voter for the purpose 
voter. 
to challenge a qualified and 
of annoying or delaying that