By Chris Wade
The Center Square

Maine Republicans are calling for a criminal investigation after hundreds of mail ballots for the November election were mistakenly sent to a woman in an Amazon delivery.

House of Representatives Republican Leader “Billy” Bob Faulkingham called the discovery of 250 official Maine election ballots in the shipment to a Newburgh home “beyond alarming” and called law enforcement officials to investigate the incident.

Where the ballots came from and their status in relation to being official was yet to be determined midday Wednesday.

He said it comes nearly a month before voters will go to the polls to decide statewide contests and several ballot questions, including a proposed voter ID requirement.

“At a time when Maine people are being asked to weigh in on whether to adopt the same commonsense Voter ID standards used in 36 other states, this shocking breach exposes how vulnerable our elections really are,” Faulkingham said in a statement. “When ballots appear in household shipments of rice and toys, trust is shattered. Mainers deserve answers, accountability, and immediate action.”

The errant mailing was first reported by The Maine Wire, a conservative website, which said the Newburgh woman found the ballots inside an Amazon package along with rice, paper plates and other household items she had ordered.

“When I opened it, there were 250 official state of Maine referendum ballots inside my box,” the unnamed woman was quoted as saying. “Thank goodness I am an honest citizen and immediately reached out to my town clerk and took the ballots to the town for safekeeping.”

The office of Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said it was “aware of the serious allegations that packages of ballots were received by a private citizen” and said “law enforcement is investigating the matter.”

Maine will be voting on a referendum in the Nov. 4 elections that would require people to present a valid state ID or driver’s license to vote or request an absentee ballot for federal, state and local elections. The proposal was recently cleared for the ballot after Maine’s highest court rejected a legal challenge over its wording.

Maine is also being targeted by the Trump administration as it investigates state election policies as part of broader efforts to prevent voter fraud ahead of next year’s midterm elections. The U.S. Department of Justice has demanded that Maine turn over state voter registration rolls, which Bellows has refused to do. She recently told the DOJ “go jump in the Gulf of Maine” in response to its request, prompting calls for her to resign.

“The integrity of our ballot is the foundation of our democracy,” Assistant House Republican Leader Katrina Smith said in a statement. “We call on Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to explain how this happened and to cooperate fully with federal investigators. Anything less is unacceptable.”