Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.

In yesterday’s Maine Student Mock Election, 78 participating schools chose up to three provided questions to use for their election.  29 schools across the state reported results from 4,254 student votes acording to a press release received  from the office of Secretary of State Shenna Bellows this morning.

QUESTION 1:  Do you want to change Maine election laws to eliminate two days of absentee voting, prohibit requests for absentee ballots by phone or family members, end ongoing absentee voter status for seniors and people with disabilities, ban prepaid postage on absentee ballot return envelopes, limit the number of drop boxes, require voters to show cerain photo ID before voting and make other changes to our elections?

QUESTION 2:  Do you eant to allow courts to temporarily prohibit a person from having dangerous weapons if law enforcement, famkly, or household members show that the person poses a significant danger of causing physical injury to themselves or others?

Mock Referendum Question:  Do you believe that the language in the Declaration of Independence, written 250 years ago, is still relevant today?

2025 Maine Student Mock Election Results are:

Question 1;   1,484 voted yes for 34.9% of the votes.  2,770 voted no for 65.1% of the votes.

Question 2: 3,311 votes yes for 79.5% of the votes;  856 voted no for 20.5% of the votes.

Mock Referendum Question Results: 2,348 voted yes for 70.8% of the votes; 969 voted no for 29.2% of the votes.

“Participating in a mock election is a fun, hands-on way for students to learn about voting and our electoral system,” said Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.  “This was the first year we’ve held a mock election surrounding a referendum election rather than a general election and we also added a question that ties in with the upcoming 250th aniversary of the birth of our nation.  The interest and engagement of students of all ages was amazing and what a testament to their teachers for using the election process to create engaging and educational lesson plans.”

In Maine, 16 and 17 year olds can pre-register to vote and if they are preregistered may serve as poll workers.  Registered voters who will be 18 years old by Election Day, Thuesday, November 4 may vote in this year’s Referendum Election.

Secretary Bellows visited schools across the state in Portland, Tosham, Bath and Minot and visited a school in Mechanic Falls virtually to speak with students about elections and answer their questions.  78 schools from around the state signed up to receive Mock Election materials from the Seretary of State, but due to local curricula or scheduling needs, some schools may decide to hold their mock elections at another date.