FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Citizen initiative found valid with 86,904 signatures

AUGUSTA — The citizen initiative petition effort “An Act to Require an Individual to Present Photographic Identification for the Purpose of Voting” has been found valid, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows confirmed today.

On Jan. 6, 2025 the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions received 4,410 petition forms with an estimated 171,562 signatures of voters who support the initiative.

The estimated total number of signatures submitted far exceeded the quantity of signatures required to determine the validity of the petition. The Secretary of State reviewed and certified the first 2,430 of the 4,410 petition forms submitted as the initial stage of the certification process.

Of the first 2,430 petition forms filed with the Secretary of State: 86,904 signatures are valid, and 7,285 signatures are invalid, a validity rate of 92.3%. The number of signatures required to determine the petition to be valid is 67,682 (which is 10% of the total votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election), thus the petition has been deemed valid by Secretary Bellows. Read the text of the decision (pdf).

The initiative will now go to the Legislature for consideration, per the provisions of the Maine Constitution. The Legislature can choose to enact the bill as written or to send it forward to a statewide vote in November 2025.

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