Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) said in a recent interview that third-party organization No Labels is misleading her state’s voters in its efforts to get on the ballot in 2024.
Maine election officials sent a cease-and-desist letter to No Labels last month over the organization’s attempts to get on the ballot for 2024. The letter said that those who signed a petition for the organization were not aware that by doing so, they were changing their party affiliation.
“Voter after voter is telling my team that they were instructed that they were merely signing a petition. They were not told they were changing their political party,” Bellows said in an interview with NBC News on Monday. “We have had enough similar complaints from voters and clerks alike that it raises serious concerns in our office about No Labels Party organizers.”
Bellows said that No Labels told voters they were signing a petition, not a voter registration form that would change their political party. In the letter, Bellows wrote that telling voters they were signing a petition was “highly misleading.”
Bellows’ office also sent letters to voters who registered with the No Labels Party, informing them that their party affiliation would be changed if they signed that petition. In Maine, new parties need 5,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Registering as a member of the No Labels party would prohibit them from voting in the Republican or Democratic primaries, which are restricted to members of those parties or unaffiliated voters.
“Voters have the freedom to associate with the political party of their choice, or no party at all,” Bellows said in a statement last month. “We were concerned after hearing reports of dozens of voters alleging they were unaware they had been enrolled in the No Labels Party and are working to ensure every voter understands their rights.”
No Labels said in a statement in response to the letter that the organizers were given “crystal-clear instructions” on asking voters to change their party affiliation.
“We take no issue with the Secretary of State notifying these signers that they are now members of the No Labels Party in Maine,” the organization said in a statement. “We have operated under the guidelines provided by the Maine Secretary of State, according to both the letter and spirit of the rules, and we have total confidence in our transparent engagement with Maine voters.”
— Updated at 3:48 p.m.