Sen. Hickman introduces bill to fund Maine’s elections, reconvene working group to study polling places at schools
AUGUSTA — On Monday, Senator Craig Hickman of Winthrop introduced a bill to provide designated funding for the production and delivery of election materials. The bill also reconvenes a working group to study polling places at schools, with a focus on security and accessibility. LD 13, “An Act to Provide Funds Necessary for the Production and Delivery of Election Materials by the Secretary of State and to Reconvene the Working Group to Study Polling Places at Schools,” was the subject of a public hearing before the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee.
“This bill fully funds our elections,” said Sen. Hickman. “We currently administer elections as an unfunded mandate, expecting the Secretary of State’s office to print and mail hundreds of thousands of ballots for each election without providing dedicated funding for them to do so. To ensure that we continue to have free, fair, and secure elections, we need to pay for them upfront. The working group will advance important conversations to ensure that our students, teachers, election officials, and voters stay safe on Election Day while maintaining polling place accessibility. This legislation is essential to keeping Maine’s voter turnout among the highest in the nation.”
LD 13 establishes the Production and Delivery of Election Materials Fund as a dedicated, non-lapsing fund in the Secretary of State’s office. This is a separate stream of funding that can be used to print and distribute ballots and other election materials. Currently, the Secretary of State’s office must request funding from the Legislature to administer elections, frequently after the election has already occurred.
LD 13 also reconvenes a working group to study polling places at schools in order to protect the security of students, staff, election workers and voters. It is also charged with considering polling place accessibility. The working group is required to provide a report to the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee by December 15, 2025.
“Supply chain and staffing issues have increased the cost of materials for ballots, printing, postage, and other election costs in addition to the delivery of such materials, which in turn has increased the cost of statewide elections dramatically in recent years,” said Secretary of State Shenna Bellows in her testimony in favor of the bill. “Unfortunately, while a fiscal note of sorts is included on all bills and bonds that may go to the voters, that is not the type of fiscal note that results in any funds being appropriated to a Department. This legislation offers a new path forward for future years. Establishing a fund to receive ongoing appropriations and allowing any remaining balances to be carried forward will ensure predictability and stability when it comes to election material expenses incurred, instead of this office repeatedly needing to ask for supplemental appropriations to pay for elections we are legally required to hold.”
“It should never be an issue whether a policy initiative advances simply because we don’t have the money to print an extra ballot page: the fiscal note for ballots or ballot pages should not be the determinant,” said Al Cleveland, the Advocacy Director of the League of Women Voters of Maine, in their testimony in support of the bill. “It’s a perverse disadvantage for a bill to have as a perceived downside that it aims to increase voter participation.”
LD 13 faces further action in the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee.
Sen. Hickman represents Maine Senate District 14, which includes Chelsea, Farmingdale, Gardiner, Hallowell, Manchester, Monmouth, Pittston, Randolph, Readfield, Wayne, West Gardiner and Winthrop.
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