AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Secretary of State says a citizens’ initiative that sought to crack down on voting by people who aren’t U.S. citizens has failed to get enough signatures.
The proposal, supported by Republican Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham of Winter Harbor, sought to change a voter qualification statute in Maine.
Following a 2019 effort in Portland to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections, Faulkingham proposed a Constitutional amendment to restrict voting in any election to solely U.S. citizens.
The secretary of state's office said Monday the petitioners submitted more than 66,000 signatures, but only about 41,000 of them were found to be valid.
The petitioners needed a little more than 63,000 signatures from Maine voters to make it to the public ballot.