250 Ballots in Amazon Package Prompts Maine GOP Leader’s Skepticism About Expanded Mail Voting

Maine expanded mail-in voting during one of the most closely watched U.S. Senate races in the country, just a year after 250 mail ballots ended up in an Amazon package.

Early in-person voting and “no-excuse” absentee voting—in which ballots can be mailed in even if voters are not sick or out of town—begins Oct. 4, as Republican Sen. Susan Collins defends her seat against Democrat challenger Troy Jackson. This year, voters can sign up for ongoing absentee voting for all future elections, making ballot tracking a paramount concern.

It’s been a year since Maine Republican legislative leaders asked for a federal probe into how 250 ballots that were supposed to be delivered to Ellsworth City Hall for 2025 ballot referendums ended up in a Newburgh woman’s Amazon package. The lawmakers raised concerns about potential mail fraud or election fraud.

The state’s poor chain of custody in delivering ballots in the Ellsworth situation doesn’t inspire confidence in a vast expansion of mail voting, said Maine Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart, a Republican. He signed an Oct. 1, 2025, letter asking for a probe of the Ellsworth ballots.

“There is not enough being done, which is disappointing,” Stewart told the Daily Signal. “The attorney general won’t do anything because he works directly for the Democrats. It’s up to the feds and they haven’t done a thing that I’m aware of.”

Joining Stewart on the letter were Assistant Senate Republican Leader Matthew Harrington, House GOP Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, and Assistant House GOP Leader Katrina Smith. They wrote to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel asking for an investigation.

In September of last year, a Newburgh woman was surprised to find 250 blank ballots in her Amazon package. The ballots were printed and mailed by the state, intended for Ellsworth City Hall. After finding the ballots in her package, she reported her finding to the Newburgh town clerk’s office.

“A lady just opened her Amazon package and there was a stack of ballots,” Stewart said. “Whether it was intentional or incompetence, either way the state dropped the ball and they need to fix it. There is a pattern of behavior after stupid things come up that ought to be looked at but aren’t. That will make voters lose confidence.”

Democrat Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who oversees elections in the state, blamed the delivery error on UPS and said there was no election security problem.

In a December letter attempting to reassure state legislators, Bellows said Ellsworth City Hall received two boxes of absentee ballots as planned with 250 ballots missing.

She later added, “All Maine absentee ballots have been carefully tracked.”

Previously, Maine allowed ongoing, or automatic, absentee status only for voters who were 65 or older, or who had a disability.

Under a new law that went into effect this year, any registered Maine voter can apply for ongoing absentee voter status. Once approved, the voter is automatically mailed an absentee ballot for every statewide election, municipal election, and any other election for which he or she is eligible, without having to request a ballot each time.

“It’s a messy process. Who’s in charge of ballot security? We need to make sure only legitimately registered voters get their hands on ballots,” Stewart said. “Historically, we’ve given a lot of latitude to local clerks, but this automatic system is a new thing. When ballots can be sent automatically, there are obvious gaps.”

The absentee voting expansion also comes after the Public Interest Legal Foundation, an elections watchdog group, noted in a July 2025 letter to Bellows that its analysis found 18,453 deceased registered voters still listed on the 2024 voter rolls, as well as 1,498 same-address duplicate or triplicate registrations.

Stewart said he doesn’t oppose absentee voting.

“There are times when I have used absentee voting. Or I have used early voting. But it shouldn’t be the default.,” Stewart said.

Stewart contends mass absentee voting makes elections more about money than policy debates.

“Both parties have to focus on just banking votes. Then it becomes less about whose ideas are better and more about who has more money,” Stewart said. “It costs a lot to ensure those ballots are sent, and in Maine, Democrats have more money to spend.”

The secretary of state’s office defends the new policy.

“For any registered voter to receive an absentee ballot, they must make a request to their municipal clerk in person, in writing, by online application, or by phone,” Jana Spalding, a spokeswoman for Bellows, told the Daily Signal in an email.

“Maine allows registered voters (other than uniformed military or overseas voters) to request ongoing absentee voter status where they are mailed an absentee ballot without having to specifically request it each election,” Spalding continued.

Neither the Collins nor Jackson campaign responded to inquiries for this story.

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