Title 21-A, Title 21-A

1. For election officials. The Secretary of State shall provide the clerk, registrar and election officials of each municipality with printed instructions and information to assist them in performing the requirements of this Title. 2. For voters. The Secretary of State shall prep…

The Secretary of State shall furnish each municipality with official ballots to be used for absentee voting and for voting on election day. [PL 2013, c. 131, §17 (AMD).] 1. Number of ballots furnished. The Secretary of State shall review the number of votes cast at the last elect…

A voter who registers and votes under section 156 in a municipality outside the voter's state representative district, state senatorial district, county or county commissioner district may vote for the offices of Representative to the Legislature, State Senator or any county offi…

An official ballot box is governed by the following provisions. [PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).] 1. Furnished by Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall furnish or approve an official ballot box for each voting district. 2. Described. The boxes must be of uniform design in m…

The Secretary of State may appoint a field examiner who shall instruct and assist municipal election officials in their administration of this Title.

The Secretary of State shall furnish each municipality with tamper-proof ballot security containers that are equipped with a suitable method of securing the ballots against tampering, which must be used for securing used ballots and other election materials for statewide election…

1. Guide to election procedures and training program for new municipal clerks. 2. Log of alleged violations. The Secretary of State shall implement a system for collecting and logging reports from residents of this State of alleged violations of this Title related to the conduct …

The Secretary of State shall send a notice of election to the municipal clerk, who shall announce the election as follows. [PL 1997, c. 436, §83 (NEW).] 1. Notice posted. The clerk shall post or have posted a notice of election, attested by the clerk, in a conspicuous public plac…

The notice of election must contain the following items: a heading that states "Notice of Election" in bold type, the day, date and title of the election, the voting district designation, if any, the name and location of the voting place, the opening and closing times of the poll…

1. Posting of. The registrar shall post a certified copy of a current voter list for each voting district at the usual voting place in that district before the polls are opened on election day. The voter list produced for purposes of this subsection must include the following inf…

At least 7 days before an election, the clerk shall post a sample ballot, furnished to the clerk under section 603, in a conspicuous, public place in each voting district.

The following provisions apply to polling times at any election. [PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).] 1. Opening time flexible. The polls must be opened no earlier than 6 a.m. and no later than 8 a.m. on election day, except that in municipalities with a population of less than 500, the …

The municipal clerk shall file a voting place report at least 60 days before each election conducted under this Title, on a form designed by the Secretary of State, with information about each voting place, including, but not limited to, the location of each voting place, the loc…

The arrangement of a voting place is governed by the following provisions. [PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).] 1. General layout. The voting place must be arranged so that the ballot box is within view of persons present. Each voting booth must be arranged so that those outside the guar…

The care and custody of an official ballot box are governed by the following provisions. [PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).] 1. Custody during election. The ballot box is in the custody of the warden of each voting place during an election. The warden is responsible for requiring that i…

Voting booths are governed by the following provisions. [PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).] 1. Provided by municipality. The municipal officers of each municipality shall provide a sufficient number of voting booths for each election. Those municipalities using voting machines must comp…

1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context indicates otherwise, the following terms have the following meanings: A. "Accessible voting place" means a voting place in a building in which the part of the building set aside for voting meets the requirements for acce…

A municipality may be divided into voting districts as follows. [PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).] 1. Procedure. The municipal officers may divide a town or ward into convenient voting districts after public notice and hearing held at least 90 days before an election. After the hearing…

1. Establishing suitable voting places. If the municipal officers determine that there is no building within a voting district that is suitable for a voting place, as described in section 627, the municipal officers may, subject to the approval of the Secretary of State, establis…

1. Voting places in unorganized townships. The procedure for establishing a voting place in unorganized townships is as follows. A. The commissioners of each county may provide or contract with a municipality to provide a voting place in any unorganized township in their county, …

Except for the added expenses incurred by a municipality under section 632, each municipality shall pay for the expense it incurs in calling, holding and reporting the results of an election. The State shall pay for other election expenses incurred as a result of the performance …

The following procedure shall be observed on election day. [PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).] 1. Election materials sent to voting place. Before the polls are opened, the clerk shall deliver or have delivered the election materials marked for each voting place to the warden at that vot…

The certified copies of the incoming voting list provided by the registrar and official ballot boxes must be used exclusively at each voting place. If it becomes impossible to use the official ballot box, the warden shall direct the method by which voting is to proceed. The warde…

The registrar shall hold office hours as long as the polls are open on any election day for the following purposes. [PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).] 1. Error in incoming voting list. The registrar shall correct any error in the incoming voting list or central voter registration syste…

A warden has the following powers and duties. [PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).] 1. Enforcement of election law. The warden shall enforce the law governing voting and counting procedures at the voting place over which the warden has jurisdiction on election day. 2. Order at voting plac…

The Secretary of State may act administratively to facilitate voting by civilian registered voters of this State who live in an area within the United States that is affected by a natural disaster or other occurrence for which the governor of that state has declared a state of em…

The voting procedure is as follows. [PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).] 1. Name announced. A voter who wishes to vote must state the voter's name and residence address to an election clerk, who shall announce the name in a loud, clear voice. If the voter's stated residence address is di…

A voter who is unable to read or mark the ballot because of physical disability, illiteracy or religious faith may request another person, other than the voter's employer or agent of that employer or officer or agent of the voter's union, to assist the voter in reading the ballot…

A voter of a municipality or an election official may challenge the right of another to vote at an election in that municipality. [PL 2007, c. 455, §31 (AMD).] 1. How made. The challenge must be made to the warden. The challenger must state in the form of a signed affidavit setti…

1. Class E crime. A person commits a Class E crime if that person: A. Knowingly removes a ballot from a voting place on election day except as authorized by this Title; [PL 1993, c. 473, §18 (RPR); PL 1993, c. 473, §46 (AFF).] B. Interferes with a voter attempting to cast a vote,…

1. Reporting of threats or harassment. The Secretary of State shall accept and maintain a record of reports of threats to or harassment of public officials related to the conduct of federal, state or municipal elections in the State. The Secretary of State shall adopt routine tec…

The guardrail area is governed by the following provisions. [PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).] 1. Within the guardrail enclosure. The clerk, election officials and not more than 2 voters in excess of the number of voting booths may be within the guardrail enclosure. The warden may perm…

Certain activities are prohibited on election day. [PL 2003, c. 447, §22 (RPR).] 1. Instruction limited. Within the voting place, a person may not instruct another in the method of marking the ballot, except as provided in section 672. 1-A. Definition. For the purposes of this se…

Certain activities at the voting place on election day are regulated as follows. [PL 2025, c. 397, §43 (NEW).] 1. Pollwatching. The warden shall allow at least one worker from each political party to remain outside the guardrail enclosure as a pollwatcher. If the municipality use…

A voter shall mark the ballot at a primary election as instructed in the directions on the ballot. [PL 1993, c. 473, §21 (AMD); PL 1993, c. 473, §46 (AFF).] 1. Individual candidate method. The voter must mark the ballot as instructed in the directions on the ballot to indicate th…

A voter shall mark the ballot at a general election as instructed in the directions on the ballot. [PL 1993, c. 473, §22 (AMD); PL 1993, c. 473, §46 (AFF).] 1. Individual candidate method. The voter must mark the ballot as instructed in the directions on the ballot to indicate a …

If a voter spoils a ballot, the voter may obtain a replacement, not more than twice, by returning the spoiled ballot to the election clerk in charge of issuing ballots. The warden, ward clerk or deputy warden shall write "Spoiled by voter" on the spoiled ballot and sign it. If a …

Except for elections determined by ranked-choice voting, the following provisions apply to the counting of ballots. The election clerks shall count the ballots under the supervision of the warden as soon as the polls are closed, except that if, in the opinion of the municipal cle…

The counting of ballots is governed by the following provisions. [PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).] 1. Challenged ballot. A challenged ballot must be counted the same as a regular ballot. The validity of a challenged ballot need not be determined unless it affects the results of an ele…

An election official must use pens or pencils containing only red ink or red lead during the conduct of official election business on election day.

As soon as the election return has been prepared, the election officials shall perform the following duties. [PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).] 1. Paper ballots wrapped. The election clerks shall wrap the tabulation of the count for each lot of ballots around that lot and secure it. Re…

When a container is required to be sealed, it shall be done so that the seal on the container must be broken before its contents can be examined.

As soon as practicable after the election return is prepared under section 711, if a secure place is available at the voting place or municipal office where the public may view a paper copy of the unofficial election results even when the voting place or municipal office is close…

As soon as the results of the election have been declared, the election return must be prepared. The warden at each ward or precinct shall fill out the election return form provided by the Secretary of State, showing the number of votes cast for each candidate or question and rec…

Within 15 business days after any statewide election, the registrar shall update all information in the central voter registration system for all voters in the municipality to reflect any voter registration activity after the incoming voting list was printed for that election and…

Within 20 days after an election, the Secretary of State shall tabulate the election returns and submit a certified copy of the tabulation to the Governor. The tabulation of a candidate or referendum election is considered final as of the date the certified copy is submitted to t…