Maine officials wary of confusion at March vote over No Labels registrations – By Jake Freudberg (Morning Sentinel) / Feb 2, 2024
Local officials say they’re bracing for potential confusion because some voters may have inadvertently enrolled in the new No Labels party that has gained ballot access in Maine and because there are new rules for the upcoming March primary.
When Kelly Hare signed what she thought was a petition nearly a year ago, she had no idea she was also changing political parties.
“People were asking everyone to sign petitions” outside of a store, Hare said. “If it’s not something I am completely against, I’ll sign it to get their thing on the ballot.”
Hare, the utility billing clerk at Gardiner City Hall, said she believed the document was only a petition to allow the No Labels party to appear on Maine ballots. But when her coworker, City Clerk Kathleen Cutler, was running voter registration lists and wondered whether she’d know anyone on the list of 18, Hare checked her own registration and found the change.
Local and state elections officials have said they are still concerned that many voters, like Hare, inadvertently enrolled in No Labels and will find out at the March 5 presidential primary that they can’t vote on the Democratic or Republican ballot. Or even if those voters knew that they enrolled in No Labels, they may not understand that means they cannot vote in another party’s primary.
