ballotbymail.org · nonpartisan
Voting by mail in Maine
Yes. Anyone can request a mail ballot. Any registered voter can request a mail (absentee) ballot, no reason needed. There's a deadline, so request early.
Key dates
| Register to vote by | Tue, Oct 13 (same-day registration also available) |
| Mail ballot request received by | Thu, Oct 29 |
| Early in-person voting | Mon, Oct 5 – Thu, Oct 29 |
| Mail your ballot by | Tue, Oct 27 (USPS: allow 7 days) |
| Election Day | Tue, Nov 3 |
| ID at the polls | No ID needed at the polls. Without one: You get a regular ballot. Only same-day registrants without ID/proof of residence cast a challenged ballot and may be asked for ID after the election. |
| Return rule | Received by your municipal clerk by 8 p.m. on Election Day. |
| Fix a flagged ballot by | Tue, Nov 3 |
| Missed the request deadline? | Voter with special circumstances: unexpected absence from the municipality all day on Election Day; self-certified physical or mental disability; island resident unable to travel to the polls; or incapacity/illness keeping the voter home or in a treatment facility, or keeping the voter's caregiver from the polls: by Tue, Nov 3, 8 p.m. (voted ballot at the municipal clerk). |
| Who can return it for you | Only certain people may return it for you. The voter or an immediate family member (spouse, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, siblings incl. half/step, step-relatives, in-laws, guardian, domestic partner, etc.) may return the ballot by mail, in person, or in the clerk's secured drop box. A non-family '3rd person' may return it only if named in the voter's written application/request (not a candidate or candidate's family); the ballot must then be witnessed (notary, clerk, or 2 witnesses), the 3rd person must return it within 2 business days or by close of polls, whichever is earlier, and may hold no more than 5 ballots at a time. Statute says the 3rd person delivers to the clerk; drop-box use by a 3rd person is not addressed. |
Steps
- Request your ballot now. Don't wait for the deadline.
- Confirm your registration and mailing address while you're at it.
- When it arrives, fill it out in blue or black ink and sign the envelope.
- Return it by drop box or in person if you can. Mail it at least a week early if not.
- Track it on your state's tracker until it shows received.
Don't get rejected
- Extra step in your state: a witness (notary, clerk, or two others) is needed only if someone other than you or an immediate family member obtained the ballot, or if you had help marking it. This is the #1 reason ballots get tossed where it applies.
- Sign the envelope the way you signed your voter registration or driver's license. Your state compares them.
- Use the secrecy sleeve if one is included, then the return envelope. Don't tape anything.
- Keep the phone and email on your registration current. If there's a problem, that's how they reach you to fix it.
https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/
https://apps.web.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/AbsenteeBallot/ballot_status.pl
ballotbymail.org/state/me
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Rules checked 2026-09-09; deadlines checked 2026-09-09. Sources: NCSL, Vote.org, CEIR, state election offices. The official site wins if anything differs. Free to copy and post.