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LD158 • 2025

An Act to Establish a Date to Begin Voting by Absentee Ballot in the Presence of the Clerk

An Act to Establish a Date to Begin Voting by Absentee Ballot in the Presence of the Clerk

Elections
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Representative Wayne Parry
Last action
2025-05-29
Official status
Signed by the Governor
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act to Establish a Date to Begin Voting by Absentee Ballot in the Presence of the Clerk

An Act to Establish a Date to Begin Voting by Absentee Ballot in the Presence of the Clerk Sponsor: Representative Wayne Parry Reference committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs Governor action: Signed by the Governor

What This Bill Does

  • An Act to Establish a Date to Begin Voting by Absentee Ballot in the Presence of the Clerk Sponsor: Representative Wayne Parry Reference committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs Governor action: Signed by the Governor

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Adopted by House & Senate

Plain English: Page 1 - 132LR0322(02) COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 1 L.D.

  • Page 1 - 132LR0322(02) COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 1 L.D.
  • 158 2 Date: (Filing No.
  • H- ) 3VETERANS AND LEGAL AFFAIRS 4 Reproduced and distributed under the direction of the Clerk of the House.
  • 5STATE OF MAINE 6HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 7132ND LEGISLATURE 8FIRST SPECIAL SESSION 9 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT “ ” to H.P.

Bill History

  1. 2025-05-29 Governor

    Signed by the Governor

  2. 2025-05-27 House

    PASSED TO BE ENACTED . Sent for concurrence. ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH.

  3. 2025-05-27 Senate

    PASSED TO BE ENACTED , in concurrence.

  4. 2025-05-13 Committee

    Reported Out; OTP-AM

  5. 2025-02-10 Committee

    Work Session Held

  6. 2025-02-10 Committee

    Voted; OTP-AM

  7. 2025-01-14 Committee

    Referred to Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs.

Official Summary Text

An Act to Establish a Date to Begin Voting by Absentee Ballot in the Presence of the Clerk
Sponsor:
Representative Wayne Parry
Reference committee:
Veterans and Legal Affairs
Governor action:
Signed by the Governor

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
Page 1 - 132LR0322(03)
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE
_____
H.P. 91 - L.D. 158
An Act to Establish a Date to Begin Voting by Absentee Ballot in the
Presence of the Clerk
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §753-B, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2021, c. 273, §21, is
further amended to read:
8. Absentee voting in presence of clerk. A For the 30 days preceding an election,
during the hours when the clerk's office is open, a person who wishes to vote by absentee
ballot may, without completing an application, vote by absentee ballot in the presence of
the clerk, except as provided in subsection 2. Before issuing a ballot, the clerk shall verify
that it is the voter who is requesting the ballot by confirming the voter's residence address
and year of birth with the information in the voter's record. The method of voting is
otherwise as prescribed in this article. After the person has voted, the clerk shall sign the
affidavit on the return envelope as a witness, indicate on the envelope that the voter voted
in the presence of a clerk and ensure that the affidavit on the return envelope is properly
completed by the voter. For the 45 days preceding an election, during the hours when the
clerk's office is open and may be conducting absentee voting During this 30-day period,
the display or distribution of any advertising material intended to influence a voter's
decision regarding a candidate or question on the ballot for that election is prohibited within
the clerk's office and on public property within 250 feet of the entrance to the building in
which the clerk's office is located.
This subsection does not apply to the display or distribution of any campaign advertising
material on private property that is within 250 feet of the entrance to the building in which
the clerk's office is located. For purposes of this section, "private property" includes
privately owned property subject to a public right-of-way that is an easement right-of-way.
This subsection does not apply to campaign advertising material on automobiles traveling
to and from the municipal office or parked on municipal property while the occupants are
visiting the municipal office to conduct municipal business. It does not prohibit a person
who is at the municipal office for the purpose of conducting municipal business or for
absentee voting from wearing a campaign button when the longest dimension of the button
does not exceed 3 inches.
APPROVED
MAY 29, 2025
BY GOVERNOR
CHAPTER
133
PUBLIC LAW