An Act To Amend the Election Laws
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1755
Committee: Legal and Veterans Affairs
Sponsors: CLARK, MA YO
Amends: 21-A MRSA §23, 21-A MRSA §503, 21-A MRSA §601, 21-A MRSA §621-A, 21-A MRSA §651, 21-A MRSA §671, 21-A MRSA §698

Legislative Document 
No. 1755 
H.P.1277 
House of Representatives, December 22, 2003 
An Act To Amend the Election Laws 
Submitted by the Secretary of State pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Recei ved by the Clerk of the House on December 17, 2003. Referred to the Committee on 
Legal and Veterans Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint 
Rule 401. 
Presented by Representative CLARK of Millinocket. 
Cosponsored by Senator: MA YO of Sagadahoc. 
Printed on re<;ycled paper 
IY/~ 
/h·11I4C~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 21-A MRS A §22, sub-§§5 and 6 are enacted to read: 
5. 
Signature 
and 
identification 
number 
of 
registered 
voter. 
Notwithstanding subsection 1 and Title 1, section 408, 
the voter's signature and identification number 
on the voter 
registration application and associated records are designated as 
nonpublic records and the registrar shall exclude those items 
from public inspection L 
6. 
Disclosure of voter's 
signature 
and 
identification 
number. 
A voter's signature and identification number that are 
excluded from public inspection pursuant to subsection 5 may be 
made available for inspection only to the voter of record, to 
municipal 
and state election officials, to a 
law enforcement 
agency that makes a written request to use the information for a 
bona fide law enforcement purpose or to a person identified by a 
court order if directed by that order. 
Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §23, sub-§l, as amended by PL 2001, c. 310, 
§3, is further amended to read: 
1. 
Registration and enrollment applications. 
The registrar 
shall keep registration and enrollment applications and requests 
and all documentation of changes in registration and enrollment 
as part of each active or inactive voter's permanent registration 
record, except that those records must be kept only § 1 years for 
a voter whose name has been removed from the voting lists of the 
municipality under sections 161 and l62-A. 
Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA § 122, first 1[, as amended by PL 2003, c. 407, 
§7, is further amended to read: 
A person may register as a voter by appearing before the 
registrar, proving that the person 
,i,s-~-i-f...,i,.e.d--,*:eE1eF meets the 
qualifications of section 111, subsections 1 to 3, and filing an 
application provided by the registrar containing the information 
required by section *+6 
or 154, if applicable. 
Township 
residents may register as provided in section 156. 
Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §503. sUb-§2, 1[C, as amended by PL 2001, c. 
310, §28, is further amended to read: 
C. 
Notwithstanding subsection 1, the municipal officers may 
also consider persons who are 17 years of age to serve as 
student election clerks for a specific election. 
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A 
student 
election 
clerk 
may 
perform 
all 
the 
functions of an election clerk as prescribed by this Title. 
Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §601, sub-§2, ,D, as amended by PL 2001, c. 
310, §29, is further amended to read: 
D. 
At the end of the list of candidates for each office, 
there must 
be left as 
many 
blank 
spaces 
as 
there are 
vacancies to be filled. These spaces may be used by a voter 
to 
write 
in 
or 
paste 
a 
sticker 
with 
the 
name 
and 
municipality of residence of any person for whom the voter 
desires to vote, as provided in section 691, subsection 2 
for a primary election or section 692, subsection 2 for a 
general election. 
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Sec. 6. 21-A MRSA §601, sub-§2,~, as amended by PL 1997, c. 
436, §67, is further amended to read: 
H. 
The name of each nominee must appear on the ballot as 
follows: 
last 
name 
firstT--~£---b-~---Ga~~~1---let:t:e~sT 
followed by the first name and middle name or initial; or 
last name first 
iR-hl-t>£-k---Ga~i-~l--let:t:e~sT followed by the 
first name or the first initial and the middle name. 
Sec. 7. 21-A MRSA §621-A, sub-§l, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 
436, §83, is amended to read: 
1. 
Notice posted. 
The clerk shall post or have posted a 
notice of election, attested by the clerk, 
in a 
conspicuous 
public place in each voting district in the municipality at least 
days immediately before election day and at each voting place 
on election day. 
Sec. 8. 21-A MRSA §651. sub-§2-B, as amended by PL 1997, c. 
436, §93, is further amended to read: 
2-B. 
Opening of ballot packages. 
No more than 1t6 one hour 
before the opening of the polls, the warden shall break the seals 
on the packages containing the ballots and distribute the ballots 
to the election clerks in charge of them. 
The breaking of the 
seals 
on 
the 
packages 
containing 
the 
ballots 
is 
a 
public 
proceeding and any member of the public may be present. 
Sec. 9. 21-A MRSA §671, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1985, c. l6l, 
§6, is amended to read: 
2. 
Enters guardrail enclosure. 
charge of the incoming voting list shall 
horizontal line, in red ink, on the list 
and allow 
aiR! 
the 
vc~ to enter the 
guardrail. 
The 
election clerk 
in 
place a check mark or a 
beside the voter's name 
area enclosed by 
the 
Sec. 10. 21-A MRSA §698, sub-§5, ,A, as amended by PL 1993, c. 
473, §26 and affected by §46, is further amended to read: 
A. 
The 
portions 
of 
6~Bseel;i,.ea--J...,---pai:"-aq.r-apb---Ar--aBa 
subsections 2-A and 2-B that deal with absentee ballots do 
not apply to municipalities with 2 or more voting districts 
where absentee ballots are counted separately. 
SUMMARY 
This bill designates a voter's signature and identification 
number, which are used as unique identifiers in the centralized 
voter registration system, 
as nonpublic records that will be 
available for inspection only by certain persons. 
The bill 
decreasE~s from 5 years to 
voter registration records must be kept 
has been removed from the voting list. 
years the time 
for a voter whose 
that 
name 
The bill clarifies that voters who register in person before 
the municipal registr,ar of voters must complete an application 
that contains the 
information required in the 
Maine 
Revised 
Statutes, Title 2l-A, section 152 or 154. 
The bill removes the restriction that a student election 
clerk may assist a voter only if the voter specifically requests 
assistance from the student election clerk. 
The bill removes obsolete language specifying the format of 
the write-in spaces for a presidential preference primary ballot 
and deletes the requirement that nominees' names must appear on a 
ballot in block capital letters. 
The bill adds a requirement that the notice of election must 
be posted at the polls on election day, in compliance with the 
federal Help America Vote Act of 2002. 
The bill allows the election officials to open the packages 
of official ballots one hour before the polls open, instead of 
the 1/2 hour that is currently specified. 
The bill clarifies that the election clerk in charge of the 
incoming voting list may make a horizontal red line beside the 
voter's name on the voting list to indicate that a voter has 
voted. 
The 
bill 
removes 
an 
obsolete 
reference 
to 
a 
repealed 
provision of law.