Election 2026
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Federal prosecutors are reviewing security footage of early voting at Lewiston City Hall but would not say whether they are investigating the interpreters a conservative outlet accused of coaching Somali-American voters.
A spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Andrew Benson confirmed only that the footage is under “review.” The Justice Department generally does not confirm or deny whether it is investigating. Lewiston City Clerk Kathy Montejo said Friday she was not aware of any investigation but did not respond to later messages seeking further comment.
The dispute comes four days before an election with the U.S. Senate race between Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson at the top of the ballot. Lewiston, Maine’s second-largest city, has some of the state’s most contentious local politics and is a major battleground in the 2nd Congressional District.
The accusations came from The Maine Wire, the media arm of the conservative Maine Policy Institute. Its report was based on City Hall security footage obtained through the state’s public records law. The Maine Wire said the footage covered early voting starting Oct. 13. In-person absentee voting ran statewide from early October through Thursday.
The Maine Wire said the video shows staffers from local immigrant-serving groups coaching voters and, in some segments, filling out ballots for them. Maine Wire editor Steve Robinson wrote in a follow-up Friday that he had reviewed about 20% of the footage.
The report rested largely on a statement from Benson, an appointee of President Donald Trump who previously served as a state prosecutor and lower-court judge.
“We review all evidence concerning complaints of voter intimidation and election interference, including the video from Lewiston’s early voting at City Hall,” Benson said, according to the newsletter. A Benson spokesperson declined to elaborate on the statement when contacted by the Bangor Daily News.
Only U.S. citizens can vote in Maine. Under federal law, a voter who needs help because of a disability or because they cannot read or write may be assisted by a person of their choice. A federal appeals court ruled in 2017 that this includes an interpreter.
Maine law mirrors that. A voter who cannot read or mark a ballot because of a disability, illiteracy or religious faith may ask another person to help read the ballot or mark it according to the voter’s wishes. The helper cannot be the voter’s employer or a union officer or agent. They may not tell the voter how to vote or otherwise influence the voter’s choices.
Trying to influence a voter who is marking a ballot is a Class E misdemeanor, carrying up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Federal law also bars intimidating or interfering with voters.
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, told the Maine Morning Star last week that her office had not received a credible report of an interpreter engaging in illegal electioneering. She issued a Friday statement that did not say whether her office knew of an investigation.
“Every citizen has the right to vote free of intimidation or interference,” Bellows said. “A citizen for whom English is a second language has the right to have an interpreter present. We are proud of the checks and balances that safeguard our elections.”
Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline, a Democrat in a five-way Tuesday race for his third term in the nonpartisan office, said the city’s Somali community “has been harassed nonstop by political provocateurs and agitators all throughout early voting.”
“It’s imperative that every eligible voter be able to make an informed decision and cast their ballot without intimidation or interference,” he said in a statement. “It’s worth noting that ballots are only printed in English and not all citizens can speak and read English.”
The Justice Department plans to send election monitors to polls in Lewiston, Portland and South Portland on Tuesday. They are the first federal observers sent to Maine since Bellows took office in 2021, the Maine Morning Star reported. Bellows told WMTW the department gave no reason for adding South Portland.
The deployment is part of a national effort by the Trump administration that includes more than 1,000 monitors. It follows Justice Department lawsuits seeking unredacted voter rolls in Maine and other states. A Trump-appointed judge dismissed the Maine suit in May.
