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Red Flag Law, voter ID measure appear on Maine ballot this Election Day

Photo: 560 WGAN Newsradio


Voters in Maine headed to the polls Tuesday to weigh in on two major questions on the state ballot.

If approved, Question 1 would require voters to show a photo ID at their polling locations and put limits on absentee voting in future elections.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows says that no investigations have uncovered widespread voter fraud in the state.

Questions about election security were raised in September when 250 blank absentee ballots were mailed to a woman in Newburgh in an Amazon box, which is still being investigated.

Bellows said there were two instances of people voting twice in the 2020 election, and both people were prosecuted.

Question 2 on the state ballot would establish a Red Flag Law to let family members directly ask courts to temporarily remove guns from people deemed dangerous.

Gun advocates say it could put 2nd Amendment rights in jeopardy, and the state’s existing Yellow Flag Law is enough to prevent gun violence.

Supporters of the measure say it may have prevented the Lewiston mass shooting in 2023 that claimed 18 lives and left 13 people injured.

Since the shooting, the law has been used more than 900 times to take guns out of the hands of people who could pose a threat.

On the local ballot in Portland, voters weighed in on a minimum wage increase.

Question A asked residents if they approve of increasing the city’s minimum wage from $15.50 to $19.00 over several years.

Some voters said they supported the increase, pointing to the rising cost of living in the city.

Many local businessowners said the increase would threaten their business or force them to pass on the added cost to customers.

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