AUGUSTA – A Naples legislator has submitted a bill that would require all Maine voters to present a photo ID before being handed a ballot.

Rich Cebra, a Republican, said he was inspired to submit the bill after hearing stories from Naples and Casco voters during previous elections. He said the current procedure, where ballot clerks check off people’s names on only the person’s word, is a loose process rife with the possibility of fraud. And while he said Maine hasn’t had a confirmed case of voter fraud in decades, the likelihood is there due to the lax provisions.

“Currently we trust that the person standing there is who they say they are. It’s time we trust, but verify. It’s time we make sure the voting places are secure,” said Cebra, who hopes the bill will be approved in time for the November 2011 election. “That would provide one election cycle to work out any bugs before the 2012 presidential election. That’s the goal,” he said.

The Maine Civil Liberties Union, however, is opposed to Cebra’s bill, primarily because it would require voters who don’t currently have a state-issued photo ID to purchase one.

“We oppose laws that require IDs for voting in general,” said the organization’s field director, Brianna Twofoot. “Requiring someone to show an ID places an unnecessary burden on the voter.”

The bill’s language is pretty straightforward, Cebra said, and includes only two provisions, the first being the presentation of photo ID to a ballot clerk prior to receiving a ballot. The second provision would take effect if someone couldn’t produce an ID. In that case, Cebra said, the voter would still be allowed to vote but the ballot would automatically be put in a “challenge” folder. The ballot would still be counted in the initial count, but if the election were close, additional scrutiny would be given to those challenged ballots.

Cebra said examples of possible “loopholes” in the voting process are numerous. For example, Cebra uses the voter list – a publicly available document that lists names, addresses and party affiliations of registered voters – to find voter contact information in order to send out campaign literature prior to an election. Each year he sends out about 1,000 flyers and receives 150-200 back, he said.

“They’re coming back undeliverable. No such address, no forwarding address on record,” he said. “What would stop some organization bent on committing voter fraud from sending out a similar mailing and seeing which ones come back. They could then recruit people, give them each a name saying you’re so and so and (the ballot clerks) would be required to give them a ballot. A requirement would solve this very obvious and large loophole.”

But Twofoot is worried that the ID requirement would place a financial burden on low-income voters and be difficult for home-bound senior citizens.

“No eligible citizen should have to pay to vote, it’s the equivalent of a poll tax,” Twofoot said.

Cebra said the ID requirement wouldn’t cost most voters “a nickel” since most people already have a driver’s license or passport.