The effort to create a voter ID law and restrict absentee voting in Maine may be in a tight race ahead of Election Day, but it also faces a vast spending disadvantage and disagreement among Republicans over whether the referendum goes too far.
When it was organized last year, the “Voter ID for ME” initiative led by a group tied to Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, initially looked set to seize on a poll that showed a strong majority of Mainers support requiring photo ID to vote. But Question 1 ended up including restrictions on absentee voting, which has also proven to be popular among Mainers.
That has led some Republicans who support voter ID laws to share frustration and skepticism about the approach, even though most of them support the item on Tuesday’s ballot. The yes side has been outspent by a roughly 3-to-1 margin ahead of Tuesday’s election, leading it to lean on social media ads and mailers to get its message across.
“If they had just left it for voter ID, I think it probably would have been a slam dunk,” said Sen. Brad Farrin, R-Norridgewock, who sponsored previous voter ID bills. “Both sides want to win at all costs, and so it’s an all-in battle on every topic instead of trying to find some compromise.”
Proponents said they are encouraged by last week’s University of New Hampshire poll showing the race effectively tied. The poll indicated most Maine Republicans intend on voting yes on Question 1 while most Democrats plan on voting no, but it also found 54% of independent voters planned on opposing it and only 3% of voters were undecided.
The Democratic campaign on the no side has focused on the raft of absentee voting restrictions, including eliminating two days of voting by that method, banning phone applications and those on behalf of family members and no longer allowing older Mainers or people with disabilities to automatically receive ballots for each election, among other changes.
While the initiative directs the state to issue free ID cards to voters without a license and to allow voters without proper identification to complete a ballot and present a photo ID within four days, opponents have pointed out it does not allow voters to use student IDs, tribal IDs or those issued by the Maine Department of Corrections.
Those additional aspects are a sign proponents “overreached” with Question 1, Farrin said. But Alex Titcomb, who cofounded The Dinner Table group with Libby that is pushing the referendum, said proponents were intentional in including both voter ID and absentee voting changes. He even credited Bellows for not splitting up the initiative into two questions.
“I think it’s premature to talk strategy and people’s opinions, especially when they have zero knowledge of the campaigns,” Titcomb said regarding criticism of Question 1’s approach.
The pro-Question 1 side has spent more than $566,000 to boost it during the campaign, while opponents have spent close to $1.8 million, per finance reports.
But fundraising on the yes side was slow over the summer, with the main political group behind the question bringing in just $64,000 from July 1 through Oct. 21. The chief group on the no side raised about $94,500 between Oct. 1 and Oct. 21 and spent about $568,000. It still had more than $257,000 on hand.
One mailer from the side working to pass Question 1 cited President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown to urge support for a voter ID law and mentioned an August incident in which immigration officials detained a driver who hit and killed a woman walking in Lewiston.
“Illegal immigrants are killing Mainers,” one side of the pro-voter ID mailer claimed while urging voters to “secure Maine for President Trump.”
Titcomb said the campaign’s strategy has been “consistent” in focusing on “securing our elections and making them stronger, safer and more transparent.” Regarding the immigration-focused mailer, he said it “appears this communication has succeeded” in rallying the Republican base to vote.
Maine Republican Party Executive Director Jason Savage did not respond to a request for comment. David Farmer, the Save Maine Absentee Voting campaign manager, said Question 1 would hurt the 45% of Maine voters and 60% of senior voters who cast absentee ballots in 2024. Bellows, a Democrat, and other opponents have pointed to studies finding extremely low rates of voter fraud.
Supporters have dug in on defending the initiative. Rep. Barbara Bagshaw, R-Windham, said it is “not going to stop anyone from voting absentee.” Republican gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Bush praised the question in a statement, citing photo ID changes for absentee voting in Georgia to say “claims of voter suppression are nonsense.”
But a former Republican who is now running as an independent for governor in 2026 captured the sentiment that both sides may reflect on after next week’s election. Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford said he supports voter ID but feels the rest of the question goes too far.
“My sense is that if this question were just about voter ID,” Bennett said, “it would be a different outcome.”