Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 153-A – Alternative registration procedure for voters with disabilities
Current as of: 2023 | Check for updates
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1. Alternative application for voter who is unable to sign. An applicant who is unable to sign that applicant’s name because of a physical disability may use a signature stamp or authorize another person to sign on behalf of the applicant on an application to register to vote or to enroll or make any changes to the applicant’s voter registration status, as provided by this Title. The individual assisting the applicant shall prepare and sign the registration application or form, along with an alternative registration signature statement, at the applicant’s direction, in the presence of the applicant and one corroborating witness. The individual assisting the applicant and the corroborating witness must be registered to vote in the State, but neither may be a candidate, the applicant’s employer or an agent of that employer or an officer or agent of the applicant’s union. The alternative registration signature statement form must be designed by the Secretary of State and must indicate that:
A. The applicant is unable to sign the applicant’s name because of a physical disability; [PL 2005, c. 196, §3 (NEW).]
B. The applicant meets all the qualifications to become a registered voter in the State or to make the requested changes to the voter’s registration; and [PL 2005, c. 196, §3 (NEW).]
C. The information supplied on the form concerning the applicant is true. [PL 2005, c. 196, §3 (NEW).]
[PL 2005, c. 196, §3 (NEW).]
Terms Used In Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 153-A
- Candidate: means any person who has filed a petition under either sections 335 and 336 or sections 354 and 355 and has qualified as a candidate by either procedure, or any person who has received contributions or made expenditures or has given consent for any other person to receive contributions or make expenditures with the intent of qualifying as a candidate. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 1
- Enroll: means to enlist as a member of a political party. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 1
- may: when used in this Title, is used in a permissive sense to grant authority or permission, but not to create duty, to act in the manner specified by the context. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 7
- Municipality: means a city, town or plantation. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 1
- Register: means to enlist as a voter. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 1
- Registrar: means the registrar or deputy registrar of voters of a municipality. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 1
- Residence: means that place where the person has established a fixed and principal home to which the person, whenever temporarily absent, intends to return. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 1
- Signature: includes a signature stamp and a signature written by another registered voter on behalf of an individual in accordance with the procedure set forth in section 153?A and, for an individual who is unable to sign that individual's own name, a mark. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 1
- Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
- Voter: means a person registered to vote. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 1
2. Alternative application for voter who becomes unable to sign after being registered. A voter who becomes unable to sign that voter’s name because of a physical disability after being registered to vote and who wishes to change the voter’s registration or enrollment status may do so by using a signature stamp or by authorizing another registered voter to sign on the voter’s behalf if the voter files with the voter registration application or form an alternative registration signature statement prepared in accordance with subsection 1.
[PL 2005, c. 196, §3 (NEW).]
3. Signing petitions. Once an alternative registration signature statement is on file with the registrar, the voter may authorize any other Maine-registered voter to sign candidate petitions, direct initiative of legislation petitions, people’s veto petitions and any Maine Clean Election Act forms requiring a voter’s signature in the presence and at the direction of the voter, except that the individual assisting the voter may not be a candidate, the circulator of the petition or form, the voter’s employer or an agent of that employer or an officer or agent of the voter’s union. In addition to using the voter’s signature stamp or signing for the voter, the individual assisting the voter must print and sign the individual’s own name and residence address on the petition or form and attest that the individual is signing on the voter’s behalf. This method of signing satisfies the requirements in this Title that voters personally sign candidate petitions. This method of signing also satisfies the requirements of the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part Third, Section 20 that petitions for the direct initiative of legislation and people’s veto petitions contain the original signatures of the petitioners.
[PL 2021, c. 273, §2 (AMD).]
4. Registrar assistance. An applicant or voter described in subsection 1 or 2 who does not have another registered voter available to assist the applicant or voter may request the registrar to provide that assistance. If the applicant or voter is unable to appear at the office of the registrar, the registrar shall visit the individual to provide that assistance, upon request and with reasonable notice. The municipality shall pay the registrar travel expenses at the same rate paid other municipal employees.
[PL 2005, c. 196, §3 (NEW).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 2005, c. 196, §3 (NEW). PL 2005, c. 568, §6 (AMD). PL 2021, c. 273, §2 (AMD).