NEWBURGH, Maine — Maine’s Secretary of State is investigating an allegation that a private resident in Newburgh received hundreds of 2025 Maine election ballots in the mail.
The claims were published by the Maine Wire, the conservative media arm of the Maine Policy Institute, and prompted Maine Republican leaders to question the integrity of the state’s election system and call for a federal inquiry before authorities had determined the facts of the strange allegation. The episode comes just a month before Maine voters are set to weigh in on whether or not photo ID should be required to vote.
The Wire article cited an unnamed woman who said she found the ballots in a package delivered to her home, and included pictures of a cardboard Amazon box containing multiple stacks of 2025 election ballots sealed in plastic, along with a package of rice, a toy lightsaber and paper bowls.
One photo posted by the Wire shows a shipping label with a Penobscot County woman’s name and address. When a Bangor Daily News reporter contacted her by phone, she said she had no comment and hung up.
“As soon as we became aware of allegations of ballots being received outside of the appropriate chain of custody, I immediately initiated an investigation through my Secretary of State’s law enforcement division,” Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said. “Law enforcement is working diligently to determine who is responsible, and they will be held accountable. We will not stop until we have answers.”
Town officials in Newburgh would not confirm that any ballots had been turned in by a resident. Katie Flores, the Newburgh town manager who also serves as the town clerk, said the town had no comment when a BDN reporter visited the town office on Wednesday.
Maine Republican leaders on Wednesday used the Wire article to attack Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat who is running to replace term-limited governor Janet Mills and has recently squared off with Republican Donald Trump’s Administration over voter fraud issues. In July, Bellows rejected a request from the U.S. Department of Justice to turn over voter registration data, saying, “Go jump in the Gulf of Maine.”
Republican leaders from the Maine House and Senate said Wednesday they sent a letter to both FBI Director Kash Patel and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting a federal investigation into Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, in light of the allegations from Newburgh.
“Given Secretary Bellows’ continued refusal to comply with federal law and her complete lack of transparency, we request the Department of Justice immediately open an investigation into the security of Maine’s elections,” the letter said.
Republicans also cited the situation as evidence of vulnerabilities in the state’s election system and reiterated support for the coming voter ID referendum.
The referendum, which voters will decide in 35 days, seeks to require voters to show ID for both in-person and absentee voting and would direct the secretary of state to issue free ID cards to voters without a driver’s license. The proposal would allow voters without a photo ID to complete a “challenged ballot” and then, within four days, present a photo ID to their local elections official.
The proposal also would no longer allow telephone applications for absentee voting, nor allow voters to automatically receive absentee ballots without submitting a separate request for each election. It would also require municipalities to have only one secured drop box for returning absentee ballots.
The Dinner Table, a political committee led by Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, and conservative activist Alex Titcomb, has been spearheading the effort to get the referendum on the ballot.
Three dozen states currently require or request that voters show a form of identification at the polls. But opponents to it in Maine, including the League of Women Voters of Maine and Bellows, have said they can have a chilling effect on voter participation in a state that has ranked high nationally in turnout.
Studies have found extremely low rates of voter fraud in U.S. elections. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology roundup of scientific literature found it is unclear that voter ID laws depress turnout, while also finding little evidence that they increase voter confidence.