An Act to Strengthen Maine's Elections by Requiring Video Monitoring of Drop Boxes and Amending the Laws Regarding Voter Rolls and Absentee Voting Envelopes
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1500
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: BOYER, TIMBERLAKE, ANDREWS, CRAY, DRINKWATER, LIBBY, QUINT, RUDNICKI, SAMPSON, SMITH
Amends: 21-A MRSA §161, 21-A MRSA §752, 21-A MRSA §752-B

Legislative Document
No. 1500
H.P. 955
House of Representatives, April 5, 2023
An Act to Strengthen Maine's Elections by Requiring Video 
Monitoring of Drop Boxes and Amending the Laws Regarding 
Voter Rolls and Absentee Voting Envelopes
Reference to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative BOYER of Poland.
Cosponsored by Senator TIMBERLAKE of Androscoggin and
Representatives: ANDREWS of Paris, CRAY of Palmyra, DRINKWATER of Milford, LIBBY 
of Auburn, QUINT of Hodgdon, RUDNICKI of Fairfield, SAMPSON of Alfred, SMITH of 
Palermo.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  21-A MRSA §161, sub-§2-A, as amended by PL 2013, c. 131, §9, is further 
amended to read:
2-A.  Maintenance of voter registration information.  The registrar in each 
municipality shall keep the central voter registration system current at all times for the 
voters in the registrar's municipality.  The Secretary of State is authorized to conduct 
maintenance of the central voter registration system. The Secretary of State shall adopt 
rules for conducting voter list maintenance required by the National Voter Registration Act 
of 1993.  Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in 
Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A.  A registrar may not cancel a voter's registration in 
the central voter registration system solely because the registered voter did not vote in 
previous elections. A voter’s registration record in the central voter registration system 
must be cancelled by either the registrar for the voter’s municipality or by the Secretary of 
State as follows:
A.  When it is determined that a voter has registered to vote in another jurisdiction in 
the State, the voter registration record from the former jurisdiction must be cancelled; 
and
B.  When it is determined that the voter has registered to vote in another jurisdiction 
outside of the State, the voter registration record in the State must be cancelled.;
C.  When it is determined that the voter has moved into another jurisdiction, either in 
the State or outside of the State, regardless of whether the voter has registered to vote 
in that other jurisdiction, the voter registration record from the former jurisdiction must 
be cancelled; and
D.  When it is determined that the voter is deceased, the voter registration record must 
be cancelled.
Sec. 2.  21-A MRSA §752, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2021, c. 398, Pt. UUUU, §2 
and affected by §7, is further amended to read:
3.  Form of return envelope.  The Secretary of State shall design or approve the form 
of the absentee ballot return envelope.  The Secretary of State may not design or approve a 
return envelope for use in a general any election that includes any mark visible on the 
outside of the return envelope or a space designated for making a mark visible on the 
outside of the return envelope that indicates the political party of the voter to whom the 
absentee ballot is issued.
Sec. 3.  21-A MRSA §752-B, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 273, §12, is 
amended to read:
5.   Monitoring of secured drop box.  During the absentee voting period, each secured 
drop box must be monitored periodically by law enforcement personnel, or municipal staff 
or and recorded continuously by a surveillance camera. The recorded video must be 
retained by the municipality for one year following the end of the absentee voting period.
Sec. 4.  Effective date. That section of this Act that amends the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 21-A, section 752, subsection 3 takes effect November 1, 2023.
SUMMARY
This bill makes the following changes to the laws governing voting and voter 
registration.
1.  It requires a registrar of a municipality, when conducting maintenance of voter 
registration information, to cancel the voter registration record of a voter determined to 
have moved outside of that municipality.
2.  It requires a registrar of a municipality, when conducting maintenance of voter 
registration information, to cancel the voter registration record of a voter determined to be 
deceased.
3.  It prohibits an absentee ballot return envelope for use in any election from including 
any mark visible on the outside of the return envelope or a space designated for making a 
mark visible on the outside of the return envelope that indicates the political party of the 
voter to whom the absentee ballot is issued.
4.  It requires secured drop boxes for the return of absentee ballots to be monitored 
periodically and recorded continuously by a surveillance camera during the absentee voting 
period and requires the recorded video to be retained by the municipality for one year 
following the end of the absentee voting period.