Can campaign workers in Maine hand out palm cards inside polling places to show voters how to write in a candidate's name?

Plain-English summary

Secretary of State G. William Diamond asked Deputy AG Cabanne Howard whether campaign workers could distribute "palm cards", small instructional cards that show voters how to write in a candidate's name on a voting machine, at polling places during the 1990 election. The Department's answer split on the basis of geography: inside the building where ballots were cast, palm cards were forbidden by 21-A M.R.S.A. § 682, which barred anyone from instructing another voter in the method of marking a ballot (with exceptions for disability, illiteracy, or religious-faith assistance). Outside the building, only two things were restricted within 250 feet of the entrance: display of advertising material or use of an advertising medium such as a sound-amplification device, and (at general elections) the passing out of stickers to be pasted on ballots. Plain palm cards did not fall into either category, so handing them out from a tent or shelter near the polls was permitted, provided the shelter itself bore no signs.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1990. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Was this opinion a formal Attorney General opinion or an advisory letter?

The text is styled as a memorandum from Deputy AG Cabanne Howard to Secretary of State Diamond. It confirms oral advice the office had already given, so it functions as a formal Department position even though it carries the memorandum format rather than a numbered opinion.

What was the legal definition of "voting place" the opinion relied on?

21-A M.R.S.A. § 1(49) defined the voting place as the building in which ballots are cast. The inside/outside distinction in the opinion turned on that line.

Did the 250-foot zone around polling places ban all campaign activity?

No. Under the version of § 682 in effect in 1990, the 250-foot zone restricted the display of advertising material, the use of advertising mediums like sound amplification, and (at general elections) handing out stickers to paste onto ballots. Direct voter instruction by means of palm cards, without signage or amplification, was not covered.

Could a campaign set up a tent near the polls?

Yes, according to this opinion, so long as the structure carried no signs of any kind.

Background and statutory framework

Section 682 of the 1990 Maine Election Laws governed conduct at voting places. It prohibited two distinct things: instructing voters in how to mark their ballots (with narrow exceptions) and, within 250 feet of the entrance, advertising activity intended to influence voters. Howard read the first prohibition broadly enough to capture write-in instructions delivered through palm cards, but he treated the 250-foot restriction as exhausted by its own enumerated terms. Plain instructional cards therefore fell outside the outdoor ban.

Citations

• 21-A M.R.S.A. § 1 et seq. (1990 Election Laws)
• 21-A M.R.S.A. § 1(49) (definition of "voting place")
• 21-A M.R.S.A. § 682 (electioneering restrictions inside the voting place and within 250 feet of the entrance)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.maine.gov/legis/lawlib/lldl/agops/agops.htm
• Original PDF: https://lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/AG/Opinions/1990/ag_19901102.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain, the linked PDF is authoritative.

Department of Attorney General

MEMORANDUM

To: G. William Diamond, Secretary of State

From: Cabanne Howard, Deputy Attorney General

Date: November 2, 1990

Subject: Use of Palm Cards at Polling Places

This is to confirm the advice which our office has rendered to you orally concerning the use of palm cards to instruct voters how to write-in the name of candidates while utilizing voting machines.

This question requires the interpretation of Section 682 of the Election Laws, 21-A M.R.S.A. § 1 et seq. That section provides that within the voting place (defined by 21-A M.R.S.A. § 1(49) as the building in which ballots are cast), no person may instruct another in the method of marking his or her ballot (unless assistance is requested because of physical disability, illiteracy, or religious faith) or attempt to influence another person in his or her choice of candidate. In the view of this office, any effort by anyone inside the voting place to instruct a voter, by means of a palm card or otherwise, how to write-in the name of a candidate in a voting machine would run afoul of this provision. Therefore, it is our view that palm cards may not be distributed within the building where voting is taking place.

With regard to activity outside the building, the only things prohibited by Section 682 are the display of advertising material, or the use of any advertising medium, such as a sound amplification device, to influence voters, as well as the passing out of stickers to be pasted on ballots at a general election, all within 250 feet of the entrance to the voting place. Thus, the passing out of palm cards of the kind described above, even within the 250 foot zone, would not violate the law, nor would the erection of any shelter for persons passing out such cards (such as a tent) so long as such a structure did not have any signs of any kind on it.

I hope the foregoing answers your question. Please feel free to give us a call if further clarification is necessary.

CH:sw

cc: Gary Cooper, Lorraine Fleury