Rep. Nina Milliken, D-Blue Hill, “strongly denies” the misdemeanor charge she faces over allegedly campaigning illegally at her town’s polling place during municipal elections earlier this year, her attorney said.
The response to the Bangor Daily News from the second-term lawmaker came after an electioneering charge was filed against her Friday in an Ellsworth court. The criminal complaint says Milliken violated a Maine law that prohibits attempts to influence another person’s decision on a candidate or ballot issue within 250 feet of a polling place on Election Day, and it accuses Milliken of doing that both inside and outside of the Blue Hill town office during municipal elections on April 4.
Milliken’s case is peculiar, as the 250-foot rule is rarely charged as a crime in Maine. The Class E misdemeanor carries up to six months in jail and a maximum $1,000 fine. Local election officials often enforce the law by simply telling people to move away from polling places.
The April elections in Blue Hill featured select board, planning board and school board races along with three ballot questions. Milliken was at the polling place on April 4 to greet voters on behalf of Amanda Woog, who was one of two candidates to beat out others for select board spots, according to Millken’s attorney, Will Ashe.
Greeting voters is allowed under Maine law as long as the candidate or their representative does not state the office they are seeking, wear any apparel displaying the candidate’s name or desired office or otherwise express support or opposition to a candidate, party or ballot question.
Milliken “strongly denies that she violated any state election laws,” Ashe told the BDN on Tuesday.
“She did not attempt to influence anyone’s vote nor did she express support or opposition to a party or candidate,” Ashe said. “Rep. Milliken has been a strong advocate for her constituents in Augusta and looks forward to being fully cleared of any wrongdoing.”
Milliken’s arraignment hearing is set for Oct. 7. Assistant District Attorney Kirk Bloomer in Hancock County is handling the case, while Natasha Irving, the district attorney for Lincoln, Waldo, Sagadahoc and Knox counties, is supervising it due to Bob Granger, the district attorney for Hancock and Washington counties, having a conflict of interest.
Granger pointed Wednesday to Maine’s rules of professional conduct for prosecutors to explain his recusal while otherwise declining to provide additional information. Irving added it is “routine” for district attorneys to cover cases in other counties when there is a conflict. The conduct rules for prosecutors tell them to refrain from participating in cases against a person they represent or have represented as a client or as a complaining witness.
Officials have not said who brought the complaint against Milliken that was first reported last week by the Maine Wire, the media outlet run by the conservative Maine Policy Institute. Blue Hill election staff heard at least one complaint about Milliken on Election Day, according to former Town Clerk Sarah Lavallee, who is now the Surry tax collector. But she said no election staffer saw Milliken campaigning around the building, denying an anonymous source’s assertion to the Maine Wire that she told Milliken to stop pressuring voters.