In audio released by the Maine Democratic Party today, Paul LePage is heard casting doubt on the ability of Maine municipalities to run free and fair elections. In the audio, which was captured at a recent LePage campaign event, LePage baselessly says that any municipality with more than 1,000 people is vulnerable to voter fraud—a claim that completely lacks merit. LePage specifically calls out Bangor, Rockland, Lewiston, Portland, and South Portland as municipalities that may not be able to properly count votes:
“I will say in Maine, I have great confidence in small towns—I'd say towns with less than 1,000 people—because usually the clerks know everybody in town, so I have a lot of confidence. I have less confidence when you get to Bangor, Rockland, Lewiston, Portland, South Portland. Those are areas you got to be a little bit more careful. There was 163,000 people who voted in the last presidential election that didn't have any IDs."
LePage sowing doubt about the validity of vote counting in Maine cities represents a doubling down on his earlier attempts to call into question the integrity of Maine’s elections—claims that were widely condemned and debunked by Maine media, with the Bangor Daily News calling them “unsubstantiated” and the former Secretary of State calling them a “blatant lie.”
The new audio is released just days after CNN highlighted LePage as one of a number of GOP gubernatorial candidates around the country who are pushing dangerous conspiracy theories about voter fraud. In its report, CNN pointed out that the election lies LePage has used this year are nothing new—he spent his eight years as governor undermining faith in Maine’s election system and claiming that election results he didn’t like were “stolen.”
“Paul LePage is correct that the integrity of Maine’s elections is under threat—by him,” said Misha Linnehan, spokesperson for the Maine Democratic Party. “LePage’s comments are actively attempting to undermine faith in our electoral system. The truth is that Maine’s time-tested election infrastructure has delivered accurate results year after year, and there’s nothing LePage can do to prevent Mainers’ voices being heard this November.”