A conservative legal group filed an election complaint in Maine on Tuesday, alleging that more than 3,000 potentially dead people and hundreds of duplicate registrations were discovered on the state's voter rolls just days before the pivotal midterm elections.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) identified 3,181 potentially dead voters and 693 duplicate registrations, urging the state to take action as Mainers prepare to cast their ballots Tuesday, according to Fox News Digital.
"Now we know why they were hiding them because there were problems on them," J. Christian Adams, president of PILF, told Fox News Digital. "They have dead people, they have lots of duplicates and they have general problems. It's something that should have been fixed a long time ago."
The complaint, filed with Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, argues election officials have not made a "reasonable effort" to remove ineligible voters from the official list. The group is asking the state to take "additional corrective action," warning it "may have no other recourse" but to appeal through the complaint process under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), a 2002 election reform law, if nothing is done.
PILF compared its findings with a previous investigation in 2025, which found 18,453 potentially dead voters and 1,498 duplicate or triplicate registration records in Maine. The state addressed many of the records identified that year, but PILF said some errors remain while "new problems have arisen."
Several searches were used in the analysis to identify records that shared the same address, first and last names and birth year, as well as typos, punctuation errors, common nicknames and birth-year discrepancies.
The complaint requests that Maine review the group's analysis, immediately remove ineligible voters and implement a plan to ensure the state complies with HAVA "now and in the future."
Adams said his group has been embroiled in a long-running fight with Maine officials over the integrity of the state's voter lists.
The discovery comes as the battle for control of Congress intensifies in the final stretch before the midterms. In Michigan, the Democratic Senate infighting reached a boiling point Friday as nominee Abdul El-Sayed's campaign told former primary rival Rep. Haley Stevens to stay away from his campaign events, according to Fox News. The clash comes just four days before Election Day, as El-Sayed faces Republican Mike Rogers in a closely watched Senate showdown.
Stevens has sharply criticized El-Sayed's views on Israel, while her fiancé has publicly endorsed Rogers. The latest blowup casts doubt on a proposed Sunday appearance alongside Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., intended to showcase Democratic unity ahead of Tuesday's vote.
In Maine, the Secretary of State's office has not yet responded to the complaint. It is not known whether any of the potentially deceased voters cast ballots in previous elections or whether the duplicate registrations were used to vote. PILF's allegations have not been verified by state officials.
PILF is asking for immediate action to remove the ineligible records and to implement safeguards to prevent future errors. The group's past investigations have led to similar complaints in other states, often resulting in settlements requiring list maintenance.
Election integrity advocates argue that outdated voter rolls increase the risk of fraud and undermine public confidence. Critics of such claims say voter fraud is rare and that aggressive purges can disenfranchise eligible voters.
Our Take
Here we go again. Another election, another state caught with thousands of dead people and duplicate registrations on the voter rolls. Maine's election officials had a year to clean this up after PILF's 2025 report found over 18,000 potentially deceased voters, and yet here we are, days before the midterms, with thousands more problems still unresolved.
J. Christian Adams is right: this should have been fixed a long time ago. The fact that it wasn't leaves open whether the officials running Maine's elections are competent and honest. Are they overwhelmed, or are they deliberately looking the other way? Either way, the American people deserve better.
PILF's complaint is a warning shot. If Maine doesn't act, the group will escalate under HAVA, and rightly so. Every illegal or duplicate registration is a potential vote that cancels out a legitimate one. Every dead voter on the rolls is an invitation to fraud.
Patriots, this is why we fight for election integrity. The Left will tell you it's no big deal, that it's all a conspiracy theory. But the numbers don't lie. Maine needs to clean up its act immediately, and every other state should take notice. The integrity of our elections is on the line, and we won't stop until every vote is protected.
