FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Contact: Kristen Schulze Muszynski
207-626-8404

Secretary Dunlap issues correction to political mailing inaccuracy

AUGUSTA — Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap is reaching out to voters who may have received a political mailing with inaccurate voting information.

Several voters recently received a mailing from the campaign of Democratic presidential primary candidate Michael Bloomberg, which inaccurately suggests that any voter may participate in the Democratic primary.

The Democratic presidential primary on March 3, 2020 is a closed primary, which means that only voters who are registered as members of the Democratic Party can vote in that primary. The Republican presidential primary is also closed.

Voters who are currently unenrolled, or who are registering to vote for the first time, can choose to enroll in a party at any time, up to and including Election Day. All voters who were enrolled in the Libertarian, Socialist or Alliance political parties should note that they are now unenrolled, as those parties have not met the party qualification standards in law. Accordingly, those voters are also eligible to enroll as Republicans or Democrats if they wish to participate in either of those presidential primary elections.

Secretary Dunlap reminds voters that State law requires a 15-day waiting period after a change of enrollment (i.e., from one party to another) before the voter may cast a ballot in their newly chosen party’s primary. As the waiting period can be no less than 15 days, any change of enrollment must occur no later than the last day a voter’s municipal office is open before the deadline. This year, the deadline falls on the President’s Day holiday, February 17th.

Regardless of party affiliation, all voters may participate in the Special State Referendum Election that is occurring on March 3, 2020, to cast ballots on the following question:

“Do you want to reject the new law that removes religious and philosophical exemptions to requiring immunization against certain communicable diseases for students to attend schools and colleges and for employees of nursery schools and health care facilities?”

Voters in State House District 128 will also have a special election ballot, to elect a candidate to represent them in the House, filling the vacancy left by the death of Rep. Arthur C. Verow.

For more information, visit the Upcoming Elections page or the Voter Information pages of the Maine Department of the Secretary of State website.