AUGUSTA – Anyone thinking of voting twice in the November election had better think twice about it.

“They could go to jail,” said Julie Flynn.

Flynn is Maine’s deputy secretary of state. She oversees the state’s elections – presidential, state and local.

A series of safeguards are in place, Flynn says, to protect the integrity of the foundation of democracy.

Among them: The need to register to vote.

That’s No. 1, Flynn explains. It’s how state and local election officials make certain that someone is first eligible to vote, and second, isn’t able to vote more than once in any single election.

When registering in person, potential voters have to prove to the election officer that they’re old enough to vote – 18 – and that they’re legal residents of the community.

Sometimes that means showing a birth certificate and a tax or utility bill. More often, said Flynn, showing a driver’s license will do.

Names on voter rolls are routinely checked. When someone dies, the name is purged. If someone moves, his or her name will be removed from the roll in one city or town and added to the roll in the new hometown when the person registers there.

In Maine, where people can register to vote and cast a ballot the same day, there are other provisions.

Officials won’t accept voter registration cards by mail within 10 working days of the election, Flynn said. That’s Oct. 19 this year.

The cutoff is in place to allow officials time to check the truth of a mailed-in registration card before the election.

After Oct. 19, she said, people have no choice but to register in person. When they do, they’ll be asked to show proof of eligibility – age and residency. Again, the driver’s license will suffice.

In addition, the registration card Maine residents have to sign requires that they disclose their previous place of voting.

That’s so one clerk can let another know to strike the name from voting rolls in the old place of residence.

Signing the card with false information, notes Flynn, is an act of perjury.

People who are late to register also risk having their ballots challenged, she said. That doesn’t mean their votes won’t be counted. It does mean their ballots might be marked with a “secret number” by an election warden.

The numbers are linked to the voters, and if the election turns out to be close enough to require a recount, such marked ballots are set aside for further inspection.

Flynn said every effort is made to protect the secrecy of the balloting process, but if a challenged ballot might make the difference in a one-vote contest, it can be traced back to the voter to determine if he or she was indeed eligible to cast it.

If fraud is found to be involved, the state will prosecute, Flynn said. Voter fraud, she added, is a Class D crime. Conviction can carry with a jail sentence.