According to new polling, Maine Governor Janet Mills may be well placed to unseat Maine's incumbent Republican Senator, Susan Collins, in the midterm elections.

The Maine secretary of state's office is investigating after 250 blank election ballots were found in a resident's Amazon order last week, saying misconduct has not been ruled out, while maintaining the safety of the state's election process.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows held a press conference to talk about the security of the absentee voting process, just days after a Newburgh woman claimed she found hundreds of blank ballots in her Amazon package.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is confident law enforcement will ultimately uncover why 250 official ballots were allegedly delivered to a Newburgh home in an Amazon package. She also said the incident underscored that Maine’s processes work and that the state’s elections are safe and secure.

The incident, in which 250 ballots were reportedly found inside an Amazon box that had been tampered with, has prompted conservatives to call for a federal investigation and for the resignation of Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.

In-person absentee voting begins Oct. 6 as voters weigh 2 statewide ballot questions and a host of local races.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows says a Newburgh woman claims she received 250 blank Maine absentee in an Amazon box on September 30. The package appeared to have been opened and resealed. The state says the ballots were found the same day the town of Ellsworth reported it was missing a shipment of 250 absentee ballots.

The alleged discovery comes just weeks before a voter ID citizens referendum is expected to appear on the Maine ballot

The investigation is taking place less than a month before the state's Nov. 4 election and with absentee voting already underway.

Maine Republicans are calling for a criminal investigation after hundreds of mail ballots for the November election were mistakenly sent to a woman in an Amazon delivery. House of Representatives Republican Leader "Billy" Bob Faulkingham called the discovery of 250 official Maine election ballots in the shipment to a Newburgh home "beyond alarming" and called law enforcement officials to investigate the incident.

Mills, 77, is a former state attorney general who won the governorship in 2018 and again in 2022. Maine governors are barred from seeking a third term and, while Mills early this year seemed to dismiss a Senate campaign, she had publicly rethought the notion and said she was “seriously considering” running.

Rep. Nina Milliken, a Democrat from the Hancock County town of Blue Hill, entered her plea in writing in advance of an arraignment that had been scheduled for Tuesday.