Former Gov. Paul LePage is dusting off unsubstantiated voting claims while preparing a new push for stronger voter identification laws in a campaign against Gov. Janet Mills.
Speaking at a Republican event last week, he alleged voters were bused in from Massachusetts more than a decade ago when he was mayor of Waterville, although no such issue was reported at the time and the Democratic secretary of state of that era called the claim “a blatant lie.” He also alleged that roughly 20 percent of voters who had voted in the 2020 election in Maine lacked valid identification, even though ID is only needed to register to vote.
He cited those examples as reasons to support stronger voter identification requirements, something that would require Republican legislative majorities in Democratic-controlled Augusta. The last time Republicans controlled the State House, they passed legislation banning same-day voter registration, but the effort was overturned by voters after a people’s veto.
“ID is the issue,” he said to cheers, indicating it as a top priority if he wins the office back.
His comments occur against a national backdrop where former President Donald Trump’s false claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election have been used to justify tighter voting laws in conservative states. While LePage and other Maine Republicans have generally not put Trump at the focus of their calls for election reform, his claims do not stand up to scrutiny and harken back to disputes over...
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