Voters in Maine overwhelmingly approved a “people’s veto” of a Republican-backed law that tightened voting regulations. The vote on Nov. 8 restores Maine’s decades-old policy of allowing same-day registration at polling places.

The state’s Republican-led legislature passed a law earlier this year requiring new voters to register at least two business days prior to an election. Supporters of the law said it would prevent voter fraud. Opponents argued fraud is not an issue in Maine and said the law would make it more difficult to vote.

The Legislature’s elimination of same-day registration was one of several Republican-led initiatives across the country to enact more stringent voting laws. In New Hampshire, Gov. John Lynch vetoed a bill this summer that would have required people to show photo ID at the polls. Voters in Mississippi just approved a similar measure requiring voter ID on Nov. 8 (although they rejected another Republican initiative to ban abortion and some forms of birth control). 

In Maine, the people’s veto was included on the state-wide referendum election ballot after receiving more than 70,000 petition signatures. Roughly 60 percent of voters approved the veto, favoring same-day registration.