Maine Republicans are calling for a federal investigation into Secretary of State Shenna Bellows after she acknowledged during a podcast hosted by Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias that she believes non-citizens are registered to vote in Maine.
“Sometimes there may be, I'm sure there are, in some isolated instances, some non-citizens may be on the rolls, and that's what election officials do every day, is, is verify the integrity of the voter rolls,” Bellows said.
“So are they looking for that one or two or three cases to try to impinge and just attack the integrity of our elections,” she said.
Elias, whose law firm has received at least $12,000 from Bellows’ gubernatorial campaign, hosted her on his Youtube channel for a softball interview that was mostly filled with Elias touting his clients courageous attempt to remove President Donald Trump from Maine’s 2024 ballot.
(The full clip can be heard starting at 13:20 in Elias’s “Democracy Docket” episode)
The Republican National Committee (RNC) has submitted a formal request to the U.S. Department of Justice seeking a probe into Bellows, alleging violations of the National Voter Registration Act, according to an email circulated Tuesday by Maine GOP Executive Director Jason Savage.
“Secretary Shenna Bellows went on a podcast and admitted that she was ‘sure’ there are some non-citizens on the voter rolls,” Savage wrote in the party’s announcement. “Her comments about non-citizens being registered to vote set off alarm bells across the state and nation.”
Bellows comments about non-citizen voters were first highlighted by The Robinson Report and The Maine Wire.
Prior to the 2024 election, Bellows was singing a different tune. Without providing any evidence or pointing to policies that might prevent non-citizens from voting in American elections, Bellows assured friendly left-wing media outlets that claims of non-citizens being registered to vote — like the claim she made to Elias — were baseless.
The Republican statement said Bellows has obstructed requests for voter roll information, demanded a $23,000 fee to fulfill a public records request from the Republican National Committee, and failed to adequately maintain state election files.
“It seems clear to us that Shenna Bellows’ obstruction of requests for public information and admissions to lack of maintenance of the voter file, if nothing else, are in violation of the National Voter Registration Act,” Savage said in the statement.
Bellows, a Democrat and former state senator from Manchester, is currently seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. She has not publicly responded to the investigation request, but she has aggressively rebuffed attempts by the Trump Administration to gain access to Maine’s voting data. She has previously clashed with Republicans on election issues, including voter ID requirements and ballot access rules.
The Maine GOP tied its announcement to the November referendum on Question 1, which would require voters to present photo identification at the polls. Republicans argue that Bellows’ comments reinforce the need for the ballot measure, while Democrats have dismissed voter ID proposals as unnecessary and burdensome.
“Every single Maine voter deserves to know that our elections were conducted fairly and above board,” Savage wrote. “Safe and secure elections that are easy to vote and hard to cheat should be the standard for all American elections, but with Shenna Bellows it has become increasingly more of a struggle.”
For access to documents obtained from Bellows office through Freedom of Access Act requests, including schedules showing her regular meetings with left-wing dark money groups, check out this pCloud drive.
