Voting By Non-residents

Training for: Legal Notes

(Reprinted from the June 2020 Maine Townsman Legal Notes)

Question: Because non-residents own property and pay taxes in our community too, it seems only fair to allow them to vote in local elections. Is this permissible?

Answer: No, only persons registered to vote in the municipality may vote in municipal elections or at town meetings – property ownership and taxpayer status have nothing to do with eligibility to vote. Furthermore, there is no “home rule” authority to waive this requirement.

According to 30-A M.R.S. § 2501(2), “[t]he qualifications for voting in a municipal election conducted under this Title are governed solely by Title 21-A, section 111”. In order to vote in a municipal election, 21-A M.R.S. § 111(4) states that a person “must be registered to vote in that municipality.” And to register to vote in that municipality, a person must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years of age, and a resident of that municipality (21-A M.R.S. § 111(1), (2) and (3)).

A person’s voting residence is “that place where the person has established a fixed and principal home to which the person, whenever temporarily absent, intends to return” (21-A M.R.S. § 112(1)). Without reiterating all of them here, a variety of factors, including the person’s sworn statement of intent, the location of any current dwelling, and the place where any motor vehicle is registered, may be considered by a registrar of voters in determining a person’s residence (see 21-A M.R.S. § 112(1)(A)).

Needless to say, perhaps, a person can have only one residence, and be registered to vote in only one place, at any one time. Therefore, a seasonal or part-time resident whose principal domicile remains elsewhere and who is registered to vote in that place is ineligible to register to vote in your municipality, regardless of property ownership or taxpayer status. (By R.P.F.)

(Reprinted from the June 2020 Maine Townsman Legal Notes)

Question: Because non-residents own property and pay taxes in our community too, it seems only fair to allow them to vote in local elections. Is this permissible?

Answer: No, only persons registered to vote in the municipality may vote in municipal elections or at town meetings – property ownership and taxpayer status have nothing to do with eligibility to vote. Furthermore, there is no “home rule” authority to waive this requirement.

According to 30-A M.R.S. § 2501(2), “[t]he qualifications for voting in a municipal election conducted under this Title are governed solely by Title 21-A, section 111”. In order to vote in a municipal election, 21-A M.R.S. § 111(4) states that a person “must be registered to vote in that municipality.” And to register to vote in that municipality, a person must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years of age, and a resident of that municipality (21-A M.R.S. § 111(1), (2) and (3)).

A person’s voting residence is “that place where the person has established a fixed and principal home to which the person, whenever temporarily absent, intends to return” (21-A M.R.S. § 112(1)). Without reiterating all of them here, a variety of factors, including the person’s sworn statement of intent, the location of any current dwelling, and the place where any motor vehicle is registered, may be considered by a registrar of voters in determining a person’s residence (see 21-A M.R.S. § 112(1)(A)).

Needless to say, perhaps, a person can have only one residence, and be registered to vote in only one place, at any one time. Therefore, a seasonal or part-time resident whose principal domicile remains elsewhere and who is registered to vote in that place is ineligible to register to vote in your municipality, regardless of property ownership or taxpayer status. (By R.P.F.)