Maine Woman Receives 250 State Election Ballots in Amazon Package Delivery

As voters in Maine prepare to cast their ballots in a state referendum election on November 4th, a Newburgh woman received a surprise delivery.  She was expecting a package with household goods and a toy lightsaber, but instead received bundles of ballots for the November 4th election, totaling over 250 ballots.

According to the Maine Wire:

The discovery raised alarms about election security, leading the Maine Republican Party Chairman to call for a federal criminal investigation as the state is mere weeks from deciding on whether it will join 36 other states in requiring some form of Vote ID.

The package arrived Tuesday looking beat up and re-taped, as if tampered with. Inside, along with household items, were bundles of ballots packaged in tamper-evident packs of 50 — the same format used for official shipments to local clerks. Election officials who reviewed photographs confirmed the documents appear to be authentic 2025 ballots.

The resident, stunned by the find, immediately turned the ballots over to the town office.

“I am greatly concerned for our state and its voting requirements,” she said.

“When I opened it, there were 250 official State of Maine referendum ballots inside my box. Thank goodness I am an honest citizen and immediately reached out to my town clerk and took the ballots to the town for safekeeping.”

Photographs obtained by the Maine Wire show that the ballots were included in the box with the household items the woman had ordered.

Previously Maine Wire posted to X a clip of Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows admitting that non-citizens may be on the voter rolls in Maine, prompting calls for voter identification.

The November 4th referendum election will have two crucial questions on it:

Question One focuses on absentee voting timelines and whether or not to require a photo ID before casting a ballot.  Question One reads:

Do you want to change Maine election laws to eliminate two days of absentee voting, prohibit requests for absentee ballots by phone or family members, end ongoing absentee voter status for seniors and people with disabilities, ban prepaid postage on absentee ballot return envelopes, limit the number of drop boxes, require voters to show certain photo ID before voting, and make other changes to our elections?

The legislation attached to the question, which can be read here, would not only require voter ID for verification, but would also remove the option to request a mail-in ballot by phone or through family members, end ballot delivery without requesting one for seniors and voters with disabilities, and require an ID to request a ballot, among other things.

It would also limit municipalities to one drop box at the registrar’s office and require that they be serviced by a bipartisan team rather than just the clerks or their designees.

The legislation would also remove two days of absentee voting, reducing the early voting window and give the Secretary of State rulemaking authority to administer voter IDs.

Question Two is a “red flag” gun law that would allow “Extreme Risk Protection Orders” that would prohibit a person from purchasing, possessing, or receiving a firearm or dangerous weapon if clear evidence is provided that the person is a significant danger, without due process in certain situations.

Question Two asks:

Do you want to allow courts to temporarily prohibit a person from having dangerous weapons if law enforcement, family, or household members show that the person poses a significant danger of causing physical injury to themselves or others?

Maine Republican Party Chairman Jim Deyermond has called for the Department of Justice to get involved.  According to Maine Wire, Deyermond said “The US Department of Justice needs to assume jurisdiction over this matter immediately…This incident should be treated as a potential crime and a crime scene.”  Deyermond is a retired Massachusetts State Trooper.