An Act to Protect Access to Absentee Ballot Drop Boxes
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1568
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: ROBERTS, MALON, MEYER, RIELLY, ROEDER, SALISBURY, TERRY
Amends: 21-A MRSA §674, 21-A MRSA §753-B

Legislative Document
No. 1568
H.P. 1013
House of Representatives, April 11, 2023
An Act to Protect Access to Absentee Ballot Drop Boxes
Reference to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative ROBERTS of South Berwick.
Cosponsored by Representatives: MALON of Biddeford, MEYER of Eliot, RIELLY of 
Westbrook, ROEDER of Bangor, SALISBURY of Westbrook, TERRY of Gorham.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  21-A MRSA §674, sub-§1, ¶C, as repealed and replaced by PL 1993, c. 
473, §18 and affected by §46, is 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; or
Sec. 2.  21-A MRSA §674, sub-§1, ¶G, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 342, §24, is 
amended to read:
G.  Having been entrusted with another voter's marked ballot, intentionally or 
knowingly discloses the content of that ballot to another person.; or
Sec. 3.  21-A MRSA §674, sub-§1, ¶H is enacted to read:
H.  Knowingly blocks or attempts to block access to a secured drop box.
Sec. 4.  21-A MRSA §753-B, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2021, c. 273, §21, is 
further amended to read:
8.  Absentee voting in presence of clerk.  A person who wishes to vote by absentee 
ballot may, without completing an application, vote by absentee ballot in the presence of 
the clerk, except as provided in subsection 2.  Before issuing a ballot, the clerk shall verify 
that it is the voter who is requesting the ballot by confirming the voter's residence address 
and year of birth with the information in the voter's record.  The method of voting is 
otherwise as prescribed in this article.  After the person has voted, the clerk shall sign the 
affidavit on the return envelope as a witness, indicate on the envelope that the voter voted 
in the presence of a clerk and ensure that the affidavit on the return envelope is properly 
completed by the voter.  For the 45 days preceding an election, during the hours when the 
clerk's office is open and may be conducting absentee voting or receiving absentee ballots 
in a secured drop box, the display or distribution of any advertising material intended to 
influence a voter's decision regarding a candidate or question on the ballot for that election 
is prohibited within the clerk's office and on public property within 250 feet of the entrance 
to the building in which the clerk's office is located.
This subsection does not apply to the display or distribution of any campaign advertising 
material on private property that is within 250 feet of the entrance to the building in which 
the clerk's office is located.  For purposes of this section, "private property" includes 
privately owned property subject to a public right-of-way that is an easement right-of-way.
This subsection does not apply to campaign advertising material on automobiles traveling 
to and from the municipal office or parked on municipal property while the occupants are 
visiting the municipal office to conduct municipal business.  It does not prohibit a person 
who is at the municipal office for the purpose of conducting municipal business or for 
absentee voting from wearing a campaign button when the longest dimension of the button 
does not exceed 3 inches.
SUMMARY
This bill provides that a person who knowingly blocks or attempts to block access to a 
secured absentee ballot drop box commits a Class E crime. It also prohibits the display or 
distribution of advertising material intended to influence a voter's decision for the 45 days 
preceding an election when the clerk's office is receiving absentee ballots in a secured drop 
box.