PORTLAND — A commission looking into how Maine’s election process can be improved plans its next hearing in Portland this week.

The five-member panel will hold a public hearing Thursday evening at the Portland Public Library.

At its first hearing last week in Augusta, the commission was told look for ways to make voting easier, not more difficult. Some of the more than 50 people attending also expressed concern about the possibility of a law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls.

The commission was appointed in May with legislative orders to study voter participation, the system governing voter registration and the conduct of elections in Maine.

It will also hold hearings in Bangor, Farmington, Lewiston, Wells, Presque Isle and Machias and report to the Legislature no later than February.