An Act To Facilitate Voting by Participants in the Address Confidentiality Program
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 1115
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: CANAVAN, STRIMLING, ADAMS, DAVIS, GROSE, HOTHAM, HUTTON, NASS, SMITH, HOBBINS
Amends: 21-A MRSA §22, 21-A MRSA §122-A, 21-A MRSA §754-A

Legislative Document 
No. 1115 
H.P.768 
House of Representatives, March 1,2005 
An Act To Facilitate Voting by Participants in the Address 
Confidentiality Program 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative CANAVAN of Waterville. 
Cosponsored by Senator STRIMLING of Cumberland and 
17/~ 
/J7.1J?d£~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: ADAMS of Portland, DAVIS of Falmouth, GROSE of Woolwich, HOTHAM 
of Dixfield, HUTTON of Bowdoinham, NASS of Acton, SMITH of Monmouth, Senator: 
HOBBINS of York. 
Printt'r..i on recycleu paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §22. sub-§3. as enacted by PL 1997, c. 248, 
§l, is amended to read: 
3. 
Address of registered voter. 
Notwithstanding subsection 
and Title 1, section 408, if a registered voter SYBm~~&-~e-~Re 
~e~is~~a~-~-&~&eG-£~a~emeR~-~~-~Re-~~--aa&-~eeG-~~-~e 
Believe-~ha~-~~~~~~~y-e~-~he-¥~e~-~-~~~-e~-~Re 
ve~e~~s-~~~~-~e&iGi~-w~~£--~a&-¥e~e~-~~-Be--~~~-if 
~Re-¥~e~~~-~~~~-e~ea-~e-~~~-~~r-~aa~-ve~e~~6 
aaa~ess-~~-&e~-a-~~~-~eee~a-~-~&e-~e~i£~~a~-~~~-eHelyae 
~Ra~-ve~e~~s-aaaFe66 is certified by the Secretary of State as a 
program 
participant 
in 
the 
Address 
Confidentiality 
Program 
pursuant to Title 5, section 90-B, all records maintained by the 
registrar pertaining to that voter must be kept confidential and 
must 
be 
excluded 
from 
pUblic 
inspection. 
±Re--ve~e~~6--aameT 
~eli~ieal--Fa~~y--affilia~ieR--aRa--elee~e~al--aivisieR--~emaiR--a 
~YBlie-~-e-<l-Q-r~.---~he--'o'G-~~~s--~~~.f'letl--s-~at,.eme.a~-~-s---al&e-~-~y.elie 
~eee~a ... 
Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §22, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 248, 
§l, is repealed. 
Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §22. sub-§5. as enacted by PL 2003, c. 584, 
§l, is amended to read: 
5. 
Signature 
and 
identification 
number 
of 
registered 
voter. 
Notwithstanding subsection 1 and Title I, section 408, 
the voter' s 
signature and identification number 
on the voter 
registration application and associated records in electronic 
format are designated as 
nonpublic records 
and the registrar 
shall exclude those items from public inspection. 
Ve~e~ Except 
for those voters who are certified as program participants in the 
Address Confidentiality Program pursuant to Title 
5, 
section 
B, 
voter signatures on voter registration applications and 
associated records 
in 
a 
printed hard-copy 
format 
are public 
records in accordance with sUbsection 1 and Title 1, section 408. 
Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §122-A is enacted to read: 
§122-A. 
Alternative registration proce~ure for participants in 
Address Confidentiality Program 
~otwithstanding sections 
1~2 
and 
152, 
a 
person 
who 
lS 
certified by the Secretary of State as a program participant in 
the Address Confidentiality Program pursuant to Title 5, section 
90-B may register to vote using the designated address and voter 
code 
assigned 
to 
that person 
pursuant 
to 
rules 
adopted 
to 
implement 
the 
program. 
To 
register 
to 
vo~ 
Page l-LR2072(1) 
" 
a 
voter 
must 
present 
the 
registrar 
with 
that 
voter's 
authorization card 
assigned 
to 
the 
voter 
pursuant 
to 
rules 
adopted by the Secretary of State showing that voter's name, 
voter 
code, 
designated 
address 
and 
certification 
expiration 
date. 
The 
registrar 
may 
contact the Address Confidentiality 
Program administrator in the Secretary of State's office to 
determine the voter's eligibility to register in the municipality 
and to verif~ electoral district in which the voter is voting 
for purposes of issuing an absentee ballot to the voter pursuant 
to section 753-C. 
All registration records for such voters must 
be designated as confidential and kept sealed in the registrar's 
office. 
The name of any voter certified as a program participant 
in the Address Confidentiality Program may not be placed on any 
voter list that is available for public inspection or copying. 
Sec. 5. 21·A MRSA §161, sub·§l, as amended by PL 1997, c. 436, 
§39, is further amended to read: 
1. 
List prepared. 
The registrar shall prepare a printed or 
typewritten list of all the voters of the municipality, arranged 
alphabetically by last name. 
The list must include the street 
address of each voter beside the voter's name, mailing address 
and zip code number. 
A voter certified as a program participant 
in the 
Address 
Confidentiality Program pursuant to Title 
5, 
section 90-8 IT)ust be listed by the voter code assigned to that 
voter under 
the program instead of by the voter's 
name 
and 
address 
and 
must 
be 
sorted 
to 
appear 
at 
the 
end 
of 
the 
alphabetized list. 
The portion of the voter list relating to 
Address Confidentiality Program participants must be kept under 
.JOseal and excluded fro!Jl--public 
ins.1le-ction. 
In a municipality 
covered by only one zip code, the registrar may print or type the 
zip code at the top of each page of the voting list. 
In a 
municipality waiea that has voting districts, the registrar shall 
make a separate list for each district. 
if; 
A. 
Except as provided in subparagraph (1), the registrar 
shall note the enrollment status of each voter using none 
other 
than 
the 
following: 
"D" 
for 
Democrat, 
"R" 
for 
Republican and "U" for unenrolled. 
(1) 
The Secretary of State may authorize the use of 
other symbols to indicate enrollment in other parties 
formed or forming under chapter 5, subchapter I 1. 
Sec. 6. 21·A MRSA §172. as enacted by PL 2003, c. 407, §13, 
,16 
is amended to read: 
'~8 
§112. 
Voter registration file 
The registrar shall prepare and keep a voter registration 
file containing the voter registration documents for each voter 
on the voting list, arranged alphabetically by the last name of 
each voter, excelJt that any voter certified by the Secretary of 
State 
as a 
IJrogram lJarticilJant in the Address Confidentiality 
Program pursuant to Title 5, section 90-B must be listed only by 
the voter code assigned to that individual under the program and 
1J1aced at the end of the alphabetized voter list. 
The file must 
contain an originaL signed voter registration application for 
each voter, with all associated applications containing changes 
of name, address or enrollment and any documentation concerning 
these 
applications 
or 
the 
qualifications 
for 
these 
voters. 
Information in the file lJertaining to any voter certified by the 
Secretary of 
State 
as 
a 
program participant in the 
Address 
Confidentiality Program lJursuant to Title 5, section 90-B must be 
kept under seal and excluded from public inslJection. 
When the 
name of a voter is removed from the voting list, the registrar 
shall indicate on the voter's registration documents the date 
that the voter's name was removed from the list and retain the 
documents for 5 years, either in the same file, or in a separate 
file. 
Sec. 7. 21-A MRS A §753-C is enacted to ;:-ead: 
§753-C. 
Absentee ballo~~rogram participants in Address 
Confidentiality Program 
Any registered voter who is certified by the Secretary of 
State as 
a 
program particilJant in the Address Confidentiality 
Program pursuant to Title 5, section 90-B is entitled to receive 
an absentee ballot for every election during the lJeriod of the 
voter's participation in the IJrogram. 
The clerk shall mail the 
absentee ballot to the voter at the voter's designated address as 
soon as possible after the regular ballots are available in the 
municipality. 
The 
voter 
shall 
mark 
the 
absentee 
ballot 
in 
accordance with the IJrocedures set forth in section 754-A and 
shall return the ballot to the registrar in the manner provided 
in section 754-A, 
except that the voter may sign the voter's 
voter 
code 
under 
the 
Address Confidentiality Program 
on 
the 
absentee ballot envelope instead of the voter's name. 
Sec. 8. 21-A MRSA §754-A, first 1[, as amended by PL 1999, c. 
645, §7, is further amended to read: 
Except 
as 
section 753-C, 
follows. 
provided 
in 
the method of 
section 
voting 
753-B, 
subsection 
by absentee ballot 
and 
is as 
SUMMARY 
This bill would facilitate voting by individuals who are 
participating in the Address Confidentiality Program established 
pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, section 90-B by 
allowing them to use their designated addresses when registering 
to vote and by ensuring that their names would not appear on any 
voting list made available to the public. 
All voter registration 
records pertaining to 
such voters 
would be 
confidential 
and 
maintained by registrars of voters under seal. 
These voters 
would be entitled to receive absentee ballots in the mail for 
every election during the period of their participation in the 
Address Confidentiality Program. 
They would be allowed to place 
their Address Confidentiality Program voter codes on the absentee 
ballot envelopes in lieu of their names and addresses to protect 
the confidentiality of their places of residence.