2025 Maine Question 1
Maine Question 1, officially the Require Voter Photo ID and Change Absentee Ballot and Dropbox Rules Initiative, was an indirect initiated state statute that appeared on the ballot in the U.S. state of Maine on November 4, 2025, concurrent with the 2025 [United States elections]. The measure was rejected by a wide margin.
Background
A petition drive was launched by a conservative political action committee to gather signatures for the initiative, as the Democratic-controlled Maine Legislature has for years refused to pass similar bills. The signatures were submitted in January 2025, where the initiative then went to the Legislature for consideration. As the legislature chose not to pass the initiative, it was placed on the 2025 election ballot.The conservative PAC that organized the petition drive challenged the wording of the initiative, decided by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, claiming that it was misleading due to the words "photo ID" only being mentioned in the final sentence. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld the original wording in July.
Impact
If passed, the state of Maine would have required photo identification for all forms of voting. Photo ID cards would have been provided to registered voters who do not have a driver's license. Partisan officials would have been inserted into certain parts of elections that are now conducted by nonpartisan municipal clerks, among other changes described in the question. It would also make it more difficult for voters to request a mail-in ballot, eliminating the ability to request one by phone.Analysis
Supporters of the proposal conceded that had it been limited to simply requiring a photo ID to vote, it likely would have passed, with some like Republican state senator Brad Farrin stating that opponents successfully framed the question around absentee voting instead of the ID requirement, and that it "scared people". He added that the broad proposal gave opponents "a playbook to beat it". The editor-in-chief of The Maine Wire, a conservative news outlet, said the broad proposal was "a tactical blunder" that led to fewer donors giving resources, which also may have impacted the ultimately unsuccessful fight against Question 2 on the same ballot, which was passed, implementing a red flag gun law in Maine.Some blamed the wording of the question for its defeat, with state representative Laurel Libby claiming Secretary of State Shenna Bellows successfully "weaponized" the question. Libby also cited a nationwide "blue wave" with Democrats winning races in New Jersey and Virginia, as well as the passage of Democratic-backed California Proposition 50.