AUGUSTA — Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is condemning allegations of voter fraud leveled by the Maine Republican Party, calling them part of a “tired old playbook.”

On Thursday, the GOP called for a state and federal investigation into voter data following a review that they say shows dozens of people may have voted twice in the same election.

“This is a major, major concern,” Maine GOP Chairman Jim Deyermond. “We take election integrity very seriously and this must not be allowed to stand.”

The party reviewed 10 years’ worth of voter data, with most instances of alleged double voting occurring in recent years, according to party Executive Director Jason Savage. 

After identifying more than 600 Mainers who are registered to vote twice — something that is common when people move — they say they found 50 who may have voted twice in the same election.

But they also noted that because of “limits of the law” they can’t know for sure how many actually voted twice.

“This is why today we are calling for a full state and federal investigation into this voter data,” Deyermond said. “The people of Maine deserve to have 100% confidence in our elections.”

Bellows said her office is aware of two instances of double voting that occurred in 2020. It is illegal to vote twice and both cases were referred to the attorney general for prosecution. 

“If people identify a problem, the right thing to do is to refer it to our nonpartisan election staff or law enforcement authorities for investigation and prosecution,” Bellows said.

As of February, Maine had 1,041,630 active registered voters, according to Bellows’ office.

When it comes to duplicate registrations, the GOP says when they followed up with local clerks, they were told that Bellows denied them access to the voter files, which is where they could have eliminated the issue.

Deputy Secretary of State Julie Flynn said clerks must all report potential duplicates to the state because they often involve more than one city or town. It’s then up to the state to update the files to ensure that voters aren’t mistakenly removed. 

Bellows said her office purges hundreds of duplicates as part of routine maintenance of the voter rolls. In 2024, the office removed more than 1,000 duplicates.

“Duplicates are normal,” she said. “People move from one town to another and forget to tell their clerk. That is not a crime and in fact our office reviews those duplicates every year.”

In March, Bellows announced a run for governor in 2026. From the start, the Maine Republican Party has pushed for her to step back from her duty to oversee elections. She told reporters that she would delegate more duties to nonpartisan staff in advance of the 2026 elections.

On Thursday, the GOP accused Bellows of spending too much time on the campaign trail. 

“While Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has been eagerly running for Governor and claiming everything is wonderful in her time as SoS, this investigation shows differently,” Deyermond said. “Shenna Bellows should spend less time in front of the TV cameras and more time making sure the state’s election data is managed properly.”

Bellows said the GOP’s allegations of voter fraud serve no purpose, other than to raise doubts about the integrity of Maine elections.

“It is deeply concerning that they are recycling these unfounded, false allegations to cast aspersion on the character of election officials all over the state and undermine voter confidence in our elections,” Bellows said.