Maine Revised Statutes
Article 2: LOCAL OFFICIALS' RESPONSIBILITIES
21-A §627. Arrangement of voting place

§627. Arrangement of voting place
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 guardrail enclosure can see who enters and leaves it.  
[PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).]
2.  Guardrail.  A guardrail must be constructed so that only those inside its enclosure can approach within 6 feet of the ballot box and the voting booths.  
[PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).]
3.  Flag displayed.  An American flag must be displayed in each voting place at any election.  
[PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW).]
4.  Minimum size of polling place; complaint to Secretary of State.  Municipalities must provide a polling place large enough to allow at least one worker from each political party to remain outside the guardrail enclosure as a pollwatcher. If the municipality uses an incoming voting list for a polling place that is divided into separate segments by voting district or by the alphabetic listing of voters' names, then the municipality must allow at least one worker from each political party to remain outside the guardrail enclosure as a pollwatcher at each separate segment of the voting list. Additional party workers and others are allowed if there is sufficient space at the polling place. If the space at the polling place is so limited that the presence of the additional party workers and others would interfere with the election process, the warden shall prohibit their presence. If the chair of any party's state committee submits a written complaint to the Secretary of State at least 60 days before an election, the Secretary of State shall authorize an inspection of the polling place considered to be too small to allow party workers access. If the Secretary of State finds a polling place to be too small to allow party workers access, the Secretary of State shall instruct the municipal officers to change the location of the polling place to one of a suitable size. The municipal officers shall advertise the change of the polling place at least 3 times in the daily or weekly newspaper, or both, that covers the area.  
[PL 2007, c. 455, §24 (AMD).]
5.  Rulemaking.  The Secretary of State may adopt rules governing pollwatchers, additional party workers and others present in the polling place as described in subsection 4. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A.  
[PL 2021, c. 246, §5 (NEW).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW). PL 1995, c. 459, §49 (AMD). PL 2001, c. 310, §33 (AMD). PL 2007, c. 455, §24 (AMD). PL 2021, c. 246, §5 (AMD).

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