State law bars 'cross-filing,' meaning a candidate can seek to appear on the ballot via party primary or independent petition — but not both.

To ID or not to ID, that is part of the question that Maine residents will be asked to vote on this November. Ballot Question 1 seeks to make a number of changes to the state’s voter ID requirements as well as its current absentee voting rules.

Susan Collins remains forever unconcerned. One of the Republicans’ most reliable meme generators isn’t fretting over Janet Mills’s entry into the race for Maine’s Senate seat alongside oyster farmer Graham Platner.

A conservative political action committee has been ordered by Maine's Secretary of State to cease and desist after sending out voter registration mailings.

Others disagree. The League of Women Voters of Maine argued that Question 1 will only guarantee voter suppression. The nonpartisan coalition Save Maine Absentee Voting, of which the League of Women Voters, the ACLU of Maine and others are members, said that, if enacted, Question 1 would unfairly restrict Mainers’ access to the ballot box.

Many voters have also signaled they want to support candidates who get it. That’s part of the reason Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who is beloved by progressive activists and caucuses with Democrats, endorsed Platner despite Schumer’s preference for Mills.

One of the many wonderful things I love about Maine is its voter participation rates. We Mainers take participatory democracy seriously. In 2024, Maine’s voter turnout rate was third in the country, with 74.8% of the voting age population casting a ballot.