130th MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST SPECIAL SESSION-2021
Legislative Document No. 1354
S.P. 440 In Senate, April 7, 2021
Resolve, To Study the Establishment of a System of Voting by Mail
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on April 5, 2021. Referred to the Committee on
Veterans and Legal Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator MIRAMANT of Knox.
Cosponsored by Representative HARNETT of Gardiner and
Senators: DAUGHTRY of Cumberland, DILL of Penobscot, HICKMAN of Kennebec,
President JACKSON of Aroostook, SANBORN of Cumberland, VITELLI of Sagadahoc,
Representatives: WILLIAMS of Bar Harbor, ZEIGLER of Montville.
Printed on recycled paper
 1 Sec. 1. Automatic voting by mail. Resolved: That the Secretary of State shall
2 explore options for implementing a system of automatic voting by mail and conduct a
3 review of existing laws that would be affected by the implementation of automatic voting
4 by mail and report to the Joint Standing Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs by
5 January 1, 2022. The Secretary of State’s report under this section must include but is not
6 limited to:
7 1. A review and comparison of automatic voting by mail in other states, including but
8 not limited to the states of Oregon and Colorado;
9 2. A recommended model for implementing automatic voting by mail that addresses
10 all aspects of the voting by mail process, including but not limited to:
11 A. Automatically mailing ballots to voters and the potential inclusion of prepaid return
12 postage;
13 B. Returning ballots in person at locations including drop boxes, polling places or
14 other designated locations;
15 C. Maintenance of voter rolls to ensure voter addresses are current, including but not
16 limited to automatic voter registration, regular comparisons with state databases and
17 online registration updates for voters;
18 D. A ballot tracking system accessible to poll workers to prevent any person from
19 voting more than once;
20 E. A system for voters to track their ballots;
21 F. Precanvassing to prevent election day bottlenecks and address problems with
22 signature matching early in the vote counting process;
23 G. A post-election day deadline for receiving ballots postmarked on or before election
24 day;
25 H. Multistage signature verification to confirm voter identities;
26 I. A notification process to inform voters of problems that could lead to their ballots
27 being rejected; and
28 J. A process through which voters can fix issues with ballots that have been returned;
29 3. The estimated cost of implementing automatic voting by mail; and
30 4. Any legislation necessary to implement automatic voting by mail.
31 The Joint Standing Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs may report out legislation
32 to the Second Regular Session of the 130th Legislature based on the report from the
33 Secretary of State.
34 SUMMARY
35 This resolve directs the Secretary of State to explore options for implementing a system
36 of automatic voting by mail in Maine.
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