In case you missed it, the Bangor Daily News reported today that former Governor Paul LePage was caught spreading blatant misinformation about Maine’s elections. At a recent campaign event with former state Sen. Eric Brakey, LePage falsely claimed that Massachusetts residents were bused up to Maine to vote in the 2009 gay marriage referendum. Former Secretary of State Matt Dunlap stated that there were no reports of illegal voting at the time of the 2009 referendum.

LePage’s most recent venture into the land of conspiracy theories is not the first time he’s made the trip. The Bangor Daily news noted that LePage was “dusting off unsubstantiated voting claims” that “do not stand up to scrutiny.” While LePage has claimed to be a different candidate this time around, his use of a “blatant lie” at a campaign event tells a different story. LePage is still clearly willing to spin up whatever falsehoods necessary to advance his political agenda, leading news outlets across Maine to conclude that “the new Paul LePage looks a lot like the old one” and that “plenty of the old LePage is still there.”

“Paul LePage claims he’s a changed man, but when he’s behind closed doors, it’s clear he’s not,” said Drew Gattine, Chair of the Maine Democratic Party. “LePage’s eagerness to lie and spread misinformation in order to undermine our faith in elections is an insult to Maine voters and to the integrity of the voting process in Maine. LePage hasn’t changed at all.”.

Bangor Daily News: Paul LePage revives unsubstantiated claims in new push for voter ID laws
By Jessica Piper
April 5, 2022

Key Points:

  • LePage alleged voters were bused from Massachusetts to Waterville to vote ahead of Maine’s 2009 referendum on same-sex marriage, saying “we” had talked with them in a pub and they “stayed at a hotel in Waterville overnight, voted, and left the next day.”

  • [Former Secretary of State Matt Dunlap] said the allegation that people had been bused into Maine to vote in the 2009 marriage referendum was a “blatant lie.”
  • [Dunlap] said there would be no mechanism for people bused in from out-of-state to register at the last minute since they would not be able to show the required proof of residency.
  • The former Republican governor also told supporters that 163,000 people voted in Maine in 2020 while lacking photo identification.
  • Maine does not require photo identification to vote, although it is required to register. Bellows, a Democrat, noted people in the state system without a valid license had still been required to provide identification and proof of residency to register to vote. She said many were likely older Mainers who had registered to vote a long time ago but no longer drive.
  • The last time Republicans controlled the State House, they passed legislation banning same-day voter registration, but the effort was overturned by voters after a people’s veto.

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