By Ray Cardello for May 3, 2025, Season 32 / Post 3

The people of Maine are in overwhelming support of Voter ID as a means to bolster the credibility of elections and protect each citizen’s right to the security of their vote. Overall, the country shows the same 80/20 support for Voter ID. Still, as is the case with almost every initiative in politics and government, the Democrats vehemently oppose any Voter ID initiative submitted, regardless of the people’s will. Maine witnessed a successful petition initiative by the grassroots PAC, The Dinner Table, in 2024, gathering nearly twice the necessary signatures on their petition to force the Voter ID question onto the 2025 election ballot. The required number of verified signatures to be successful is 67,682, and The Dinner Table submitted nearly 170,000, which is over 10% of Maine’s population. These are impressive numbers, but not to the Democrats, who must find a way to muddy the waters.

The Dinner Table is a political PAC formed by Maine State Representative Laurel Libby (R-Auburn/ Minot) and Alex Titcomb to support conservative candidates and issues. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a member of and active coordinator with The Dinner Table.

Once the petitions are submitted to and verified by the Secretary of State, she can do nothing to prevent the question from appearing on the fall election ballot. Shenna Bellows is Maine’s Secretary of State, and all indications are that she will word the Voter ID question on the ballot so negatively that even Republicans would be hard-pressed to vote for the provision. Shenna Bellows tried desperately to prevent Donald Trump’s name from appearing on the 2024 ballot. Bellows is one of the Democrats incessantly claiming that it is the Republicans who are trying to destroy our democracy. That is what we call projection.

There will be hearings on the final wording, but Bellows has the Final Cut in her hands. The most recent version is:

“Do you want to change Maine election laws to require voters to show ID before voting, end ongoing absentee voting for seniors and people with disabilities, ban prepaid postage on absentee ballot return envelopes, prohibit requests for absentee ballots by phone or family members, eliminate two days of absentee voting, and make other changes to our elections?”

The Secretary of State will release the actual verbiage of the ballot question on Monday, but the version above, which is her work, is an egregious exaggeration of the original intent of the petition drive. The purpose of the petition was to put a photo ID requirement in place and to tighten up the security and integrity of absentee ballots. It was never the intent of The Dinner Table to suppress legal voting or create additional hurdles for seniors, people with disabilities, or anyone else who qualifies and deserves an absentee ballot.

What the secretary intends to do is word the ballot question to make the PAC and anyone who signed the petition as radicals. What we want is for citizens to vote and for non-citizens and illegals not to have access to our voting process. My hope is that once this question is passed by a vote of the people, that we go after the repeal of ranked voting. I worked at the Ogunquit polling location in November gathering signatures and witnessed a constant trail of voters to poll workers asking question about the Ranked Choice procedure. This procedure is unnecessary, discourages voters, and is in place by Democrats to corrupt the system. Let’s get back to basics. Prove your ID and one vote per office.