127th MAINE LEGISLATURE
LD 197 LR 1139(01)
An Act To Strengthen Maine's Election Laws by Requiring Photographic Identification for the Purpose of Voting
Preliminary Fiscal Impact Statement for Original Bill
Sponsor: Sen. Collins of York
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Fiscal Note Required: Yes
             
Preliminary Fiscal Impact Statement
FY 2015-16 FY 2016-17 Projections  FY 2017-18 Projections  FY 2018-19
Net Cost (Savings)
General Fund $362,235 $71,645 $71,645 $71,645
Appropriations/Allocations
General Fund $362,235 $71,645 $71,645 $71,645
State Mandates
Required Activity Unit Affected Local Cost
Establishes an additional provisional voting process requiring election officials to track provisional ballot affidavits, complete a provisional ballot log and report the status of all provisional ballots to the Secretary of State. Municipality Moderate statewide
The required local activities in this bill may represent a State mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine.  Unless General Fund appropriations are provided to fund at least 90% of the additional costs or a Mandate Preamble is amended to the bill and two-thirds of the members of each House vote to exempt this mandate from the funding requirement, municipalities may not be required to implement these changes.
Fiscal Detail and Notes
This legislation would require a voter to show valid photographic identification before voting.  The Department of Secretary of State would require a General Fund appropriation of $362,235 in fiscal year 2015-16 and $71,645 in fiscal year 2016-17 to produce state identification cards for voters who do not have another valid photographic identification, modify the state identification card application to add an attestation statement and print provisional ballot envelopes and ballot affidavits.  There are currently 235,207 individuals 18 or over who do not have a driver's license or state identification card.  This analysis assumes 73% of these individuals (the average percentage of registered voters who voted in the last 3 presidential elections) would choose to vote and that 60% of these individuals would need a free identification card.