On June 5, Maine Governor John Baldacci signed LD1169 into law. It improves the ability of voters to cast a write-in vote for a declared write-in candidate. It deletes the requirement that the voter write-in not only the name of the candidate, but the town of residence of the candidate. Also it provides that the names of declared write-in candidates be posted in polling places. And it says that the tally sheets at the local polling place must have the names of the declared write-in candidates printed, next to the names of the candidates listed on the ballot, so as to remind local polling place officials to include those write-ins in the tally.

It also moves the deadline for a declared write-in to file to 45 days before the election. That is a more restrictive requirement than the old law, but it was necessary in order to implement the other parts of the law, and also to make sure that absentee voters have the same field of candidates as the voters who vote on election day.

The bill is an omnibus election bill and contains many other unrelated provisions. It specifies that the person who signs the bottom of any petition (in his or her role as the circulator) must have actually collected all the signatures, rather than just witnessing the signatures being collected. Thanks to Herb Hoffman for this news.