Maine voters will be asked to consider a proposal to require photo identification in order to cast a ballot this fall. The referendum also includes several changes to absentee voting, which supporters of the proposal say are necessary to facilitate ID requirements and strengthen election laws.

Opponents, however, say the referendum will make it harder for people to vote and for town clerks to run local elections.

Here are the ways Question 1 would change absentee voting:

Limits the number and location of ballot drop boxes a town may offer.

Current law allows municipalities to set up drop boxes outside their municipal office buildings or the location where in-person absentee voting takes place, as well as in other locations with approval from the secretary of state.

Question 1 limits municipalities to just one drop box, which must be located outside the office of the registrar of voters or on the property where the registrar’s office is located.

Requires a bipartisan team of elections officials to collect absentee ballots from drop boxes.

Current law allows the municipal clerk or a team of two people designated by the clerk to retrieve ballots from drop boxes.

Question 1 would change that to require a “bipartisan team of election officials” to retrieve ballots and deliver them to the clerk’s office.

Requires voters to submit their driver’s license numbers or a copy of their photo ID when requesting an absentee ballot.

Requests for ballots currently only require the voter to provide their name and date of birth, address and, for written requests, signature.

Prohibits towns from including prepaid return postage on absentee ballots.

Current law does not include any restrictions on prepaid postage for absentee ballots. While the state does not track how many municipalities offer prepaid return postage, opponents of Question 1 say this measure would take away local control. Supporters say the prohibition saves taxpayer dollars.

Eliminates the ability to request an absentee ballot by phone, and for family members to request a ballot on behalf of a voter.

Current law allows voters to request absentee ballots over the phone; this would be repealed under the proposal. Question 1 also eliminates the ability of immediate family members to make written requests for absentee ballots on behalf of voters, though family members would still be permitted to return ballots for voters.

Eliminates ongoing absentee voting.

Voters who are at least 65 years of age or who self-identify as having a disability are currently able to apply for status as an ongoing absentee voter, which allows them to automatically receive an absentee ballot for each statewide, municipal or other election without making separate ballot requests. The measure would be repealed under Question 1.

Allows absentee ballots to be requested starting in January of the year of the election, or 90 days before, whichever is earlier, and moves the deadline to request an absentee ballot from the Thursday before the election to the Tuesday before. 

Maine’s current law allows absentee ballots to be requested up to three months prior to an election. Question 1 would expand the timeframe for requesting a ballot to allow applications to be filed as soon as the January before an election.

The proposal also would eliminate two days of absentee voting right before the election, which supporters of Question 1 say reduces overlap with the time frame for early processing of absentee ballots and would ease the workload for clerks in the week before the election. Critics say the proposal cuts back on opportunities for absentee voting during the time when it’s most popular.