Conservative Maine PAC that spent big in 2022 election now launching voter ID initiative

A Maine-based, conservative political action committee that has raised nearly three-quarters of a million dollars in the past three years launched a new effort to require voter identification. 

Last month, The Dinner Table PAC launched Voter ID for ME, a citizen-led ballot initiative that seeks to require voters to show identification at the polls. The organization needs to gather 67,682 signatures from registered Maine voters to get its question on the November ballot, based on the state’s requirement of having 10% of the total votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election. 

Founder Alex Titcomb said the committee is waiting for the Department of the Secretary of State to finalize the actual petition but expects to start collecting signatures in June. However, the group is already asking people who are interested to sign up as volunteers. 

The Voter ID for ME website shows a fundraising goal of $100,000 with just over $4,500 raised, as of Tuesday. 

The campaign falls within a national push from Republicans to require identification at the polls, arguing it will decrease the risk of fraud and increase confidence in the result. However, opponents have pushed back saying it creates an anti-immigrant sentiment and feeds an unfounded fear of widespread voter fraud. 

Maine is among 15 states that does not require a voter to present identification while at the polls; it is also among 22 states plus Washington, D.C. that permits same-day voter registration. 

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows told Maine Morning Star her office “will always administer the constitutionally protected citizen’s initiative process fairly,” but it has historically opposed proposals requiring voters to show certain documents to cast ballots. Not only can they create long lines at the polls and confusing logistics, but she said ID requirements could “disproportionately impact rural residents, seniors, people with disabilities, the unhoused, students and voters of color.”

“As part of our free, fair and secure elections, Maine already requires that voters show proof of identification and residency when they register to vote,” Bellows said. “We do not need to make changes that would make it harder to vote.”

It is not the first time conservatives have tried to implement a voter ID rule in the state. Most recently, a 2023 bill sponsored by state Sen. Matt Pouliot (R-Kennebec) was carried over and ultimately rejected by Democratic leadership.

What is The Dinner Table PAC?

Titcomb founded The Dinner Table in 2021 alongside state Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) with a mission to create a conservative majority in the Maine House of Representatives. Titcomb is a 2024 fellow with the Club for Growth Foundation, a conservative economic policy organization that describes itself as “the leading free-enterprise advocacy group in the nation.” 

According to data from the Maine Ethics Commission, the committee has raised more than $719,000 since it launched and has more than $220,000 cash on hand. According to the group’s recent filings, it raised $342,000 in 2022, $167,000 last year and $62,000 in the first three months of this year.

During the 2022 election cycle, the group spent roughly $450,000 supporting dozens of Republican candidates, according to reporting at the time.

Maine legislators that have donated to the organization include Sen. Lisa Keim (R-Oxford), Rep. Nathan Carlow (R-Buxton), Rep. Daniel Newman (R-Belgrade), Rep. Randall Greenwood (R-Wales) and Rep. David Haggan (R-Hampden).

More than half a million dollars have come from in-state donations, but the committee has also received over $130,000 from out-of-state donors. Contributors from within Maine hail from more than 330 different towns and all 16 counties. 

The committee has also received more than $130,000 from out-of-state donors in 16 different states and Washington D.C.