An Act Regarding the Processing of Absentee Ballots Prior to Election Day
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 0585
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: PICCHIOTTI, FOLEY, GUERIN, HANINGTON, LOCKMAN, WARD, WINSOR
Amends: 21-A MRSA §760-B

Legislative Document 
No. 585 
H.P. 409 
House of Representatives, February 26, 2015 
An Act Regarding the Processing of Absentee Ballots Prior to 
Election Day 
Reference to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs suggested and ordered printed. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative PICCHIOTTI of Fairfield. 
Cosponsored by Representatives: FOLEY of Wells, GUERIN of Glenburn, HANINGTON of 
Lincoln, LOCKMAN of Amherst, WARD of Dedham, WINSOR of Norway. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  21-A MRSA §760-B, as amended by PL 2013, c. 457, §4, is further 
amended to read: 
§760-B.  Procedures when clerk processes absentee ballots prior to election day 
Any municipality or jurisdiction that conducts its own elections may opt to process 
absentee ballots on the 3rd day prior to election day or the day immediately prior to 
election day, or both.  The clerk shall use the following procedure when processing the 
absentee ballots during this time. 
1.  Time for processing.  In a municipality that has opted to process absentee ballots 
on the 3rd day prior to election day or the day immediately prior to election day, or both, 
the municipal clerk or the clerk's designees may process absentee ballots at the times 
designated by the clerk, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., except that if an 
inspection is requested pursuant to subsection 3, processing may not begin until after the 
inspection period has concluded. 
2.  Notice of early processing.  The clerk must shall give notice of the municipality's 
intent to process absentee ballots prior to election day using the notice of election under 
section 621-A, stating the time that the clerk intends to begin processing absentee ballots 
and the inspection period provided in subsection 3.  At least 60 days before election day, 
the clerk shall provide a copy of the notice of election to the Secretary of State and the 
chairs of each political party of the municipality indicating that early processing of 
absentee ballots will occur.  The notice to the political parties must be considered 
sufficient as long as it is mailed to the last address of each municipal chair that is known 
to the clerk.  The notice to the Secretary of State may be delivered by mail or facsimile or 
as a scanned attachment to an e-mail address established by the Secretary of State.  If the 
notice is not received by the Secretary of State by 5:00 p.m. on the 60th day before 
election day, the municipality may not process absentee ballots prior to election day. 
3.  Inspection of absentee envelopes before processing.  A member of the public 
may make a written request of the clerk to inspect absentee ballot applications and 
envelopes before they are processed if the request is made by 9:00 a.m. on the day 
immediately that the clerk will be processing the absentee ballots as specified on the 
notice of election prior to election day.  If the clerk will be processing on 2 days, the 
request must be made by 9:00 a.m. on the first day of processing.  The clerk shall make 
the absentee ballot applications and envelopes received by that time available for public 
inspection for one hour before the starting time specified in the notice of election for 
processing the absentee ballots.  The clerk may immediately proceed to process the 
ballots after the one-hour inspection time has elapsed. 
4.  Processing and other procedures.  The clerk shall use the procedure described in 
this section when processing the absentee ballots during the designated times.  Procedures 
for handling full ballot boxes, pollwatching and challenging ballots are conducted in the 
same manner as election day or as close as practicable. 
5.  Counting and results prohibited before the polls close.  The absentee ballots 
may not be counted, voter intent may not be determined and election results may not be 
obtained or released until after the polls have closed on election day, and all election day 
ballots have been cast and all absentee ballots have been processed. 
6.  Security of processed ballots and tabulating equipment.  At the conclusion of 
absentee ballot processing on the 3rd day prior to election day or the day immediately 
prior to election day, or both, the clerk shall ensure that the early processed absentee 
ballots are locked and sealed in the ballot box, automatic tabulating equipment ballot box 
or tamper-proof containers provided by the Secretary of State and secured in a vault or 
other locked secure location, until the voting resumes on election day or until the ballots 
are counted after the polls close.  The Secretary of State shall publish uniform guidelines 
for securing ballots and other materials under this section. 
SUMMARY 
Under current law, municipal clerks are authorized to process absentee ballots on the 
Monday before the election as long as established notice, inspection, processing and 
security procedures are followed.  This bill allows municipal clerks to process absentee 
ballots on the Saturday or Monday before the election, or both, as long as all these 
procedures are followed.