In June 2011, Governor Paul LePage signed a law to end Maine's Election Day voter registration, which voters threw out five months later by 237,024 votes to 155,156. In 2018 he said he would "probably not certify" the results of Maine's ranked-choice primary, calling unconstitutional a voting method that Maine voters had approved twice.
As a 2026 candidate for Maine's 2nd District, LePage again backed voter ID in May 2025, months before Maine voters rejected a photo ID ballot question, and he claimed without evidence that Democrats register noncitizens to vote.
Paul LePage's Actions and Statements on Registering and Voting in Maine
- LePage Signed a Law to End Election Day Registration That Maine Voters Repealed. On June 21, 2011, Governor Paul LePage signed LD 1376, which became Chapter 399 of Maine's public laws and required new voters to register at least two business days before an election, which would have ended the same-day registration Maine had allowed since 1973. Maine voters rejected that part of the law in a people's veto on November 8, 2011, by 237,024 votes to 155,156, about 60 percent to 40 percent.
- LePage Said He Would Probably Not Certify Maine's 2018 Ranked-Choice Primary Results. On June 12, 2018, primary day, Governor Paul LePage, who opposed ranked-choice voting, called the system unconstitutional, Maine Public reported. He said, "I will probably not certify the results of today's election and leave it up to the courts to decide," according to Route Fifty, citing News Center Maine. That December he held off certifying the ranked-choice result in the 2nd District while the losing Republican's lawsuit was in federal court, then signed it with the words "stolen election" beside his signature. Maine voters twice endorsed ranked-choice voting at the ballot box, UPI noted.
- LePage Renewed His Support for Voter ID Months Before Maine Voters Rejected It Nearly Two to One. In a May 15, 2025 WVOM radio interview, Paul LePage again voiced support for requiring voter ID in Maine, the Bangor Daily News reported. On November 4, 2025, Maine voters rejected Question 1, which would have made voters show photo identification whether voting in person or absentee, by 64.1 percent to 35.9 percent, which Ballotpedia found was the largest margin of defeat for any voter ID proposal in at least two decades.
- LePage Claimed Democrats Use Tax Money to Register Noncitizens. In the same May 15, 2025 WVOM interview, Paul LePage claimed the Democratic Party "is using taxpayer money to register Democrat voters that are noncitizens," adding, "And that has been proven time and again." He gave no evidence, the Bangor Daily News reported. Studies have found that noncitizens rarely vote, and the libertarian Cato Institute puts their voting rate at close to zero, the Bangor Daily News noted.
What Paul LePage's Voting Positions Would Mean for Maine Voters
- New Maine voters would have been turned away on Election Day. Under the registration law LePage signed, Maine residents who were not registered two business days before an election could not have registered and voted on Election Day, a right Maine voters have had since 1973 and chose to keep.
- A photo ID rule would have added a document requirement for every Maine ballot. The voter ID question Maine rejected in 2025 would have made voters show photo identification to vote in person or absentee and required absentee voters to fill out an identification envelope.
Frequently Asked Questions About Paul LePage on Voting rights
What is Paul LePage's record on voting rights under Trump?
Paul LePage's record on voting reaches back to his time as Maine governor, when he signed a 2011 law to end Election Day registration that voters repealed and fought the ranked-choice voting Maine voters adopted. As a 2026 House candidate he renewed his support for voter ID in 2025 and claimed, without evidence, that Democrats register noncitizens. Maine voters rejected a photo ID requirement in November 2025.
Did Paul LePage end same-day voter registration in Maine?
Paul LePage signed the 2011 law that would have ended it, and Maine voters overturned that part of the law in a November 2011 people's veto. The bill had passed the Maine Senate 17 to 14 before LePage signed it on June 21, 2011.
What has Paul LePage said about ranked-choice voting?
Paul LePage called ranked-choice voting unconstitutional in June 2018 and said he would not be party to its use in primaries, Maine Public reported. After certifying the 2nd District result that December, he wrote on Twitter that it "didn't result in a true majority as promised-simply a plurality measured differently."
Last updated: 2026-10-26