DOJ Probes Footage Showing NGOs ‘Coaching Illiterate Somalis’ On How To Vote In Key State
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine is reviewing security camera footage from Lewiston City Hall that shows non-English-speaking voters receiving assistance from interpreters affiliated with local organizations during early in-person voting, according to a bombshell report from The Maine Wire.
The footage, which was obtained by The Maine Wire under Maine’s Freedom of Access Act, covers approximately 140 hours of early voting activity that began on October 13, 2026. It depicts more than 200 voters, identified in the reporting as non-English-speaking individuals of Somali background, interacting with a small number of staffers from nongovernmental organizations who served as interpreters or aides. The outlet noted that the video shows instances of aides pointing at ballot items, touching or handling ballots, and remaining near voters in booths.
Maine law permits voters who cannot read or mark a ballot due to illiteracy, disability, or religious faith to request assistance from another person. Under Title 21-A, Section 672, the aide may not tell the voter how to make choices or otherwise influence the voter.
The Maine Wire states that practical rules applied at the site, and later distributed in writing by City Clerk Kathy Montejo, further require that aides wait for a voter request, avoid marking ballots themselves when the voter is able, leave the voting area with the voter after assistance ends, and refrain from approaching voters already in booths. The reporting describes multiple apparent deviations from these guidelines in the footage.
After the material drew attention, the clerk’s office began providing a printed summary of the rules to staffers.
The Department of Justice is investigating CCTV video from Lewiston City Hall that appears to show dozens of instances of NGO workers — operating as “interpreters” — coaching illiterate Somalis on how to vote and even filling out ballots for them.
The video is shocking. pic.twitter.com/0rMlU2RVuM
— Steve Robinson (@SteveRob) October 30, 2026