AUGUSTA — As the result of a new state initiative, Maine motorists will get more than a bill from the Secretary of State’s Office when they are notified that it’s time to renew their drivers’ licenses.

During a Friday morning press conference, Secretary of State G. William Diamond unveiled an expansion of the so-called “motor-voter” program. Since 1990, Maine drivers have been able to register to vote at any state Department of Motor Vehicles office while picking up a new license or annual tags for their cars.

Diamond said the program should be enhanced by his newest innovation which involves including a voter registration card along with the form used to renew a driver’s existing license.

Maine has about 940,000 drivers whose licenses are subject to renewal every six years. According to Diamond’s statistics, of the 156,000 drivers to be contacted annually, about 20 percent — or 31,200 — are not registered voters.

The secretary of state said the new program should prompt a dramatic increase over the 134,000 new voters enrolled since Maine first started its “motor-voter” program. Currently, people doing business at state motor vehicle offices are asked whether they are registered to vote and if they would like to be.

“We just know, for a fact, that people have said they weren’t registered to vote and that upon being asked, they did register,” Diamond said. “People who don’t vote do so because they think it is a complex process of getting registered — and that’s especially true with young people. If you can get them registered, they will vote and this is one more way to do that.”

In the license renewal form, drivers who are not registered to vote will be asked to fill out the application included in the letter and return it to a town or city clerk upon renewing their licenses.

The program, which Diamond said has cost only a “few thousand dollars,” will still not do much to alleviate Maine’s most serious voter registration problem: deceased voters who are still on town and city voting lists.

“We’ve done everything well in Maine except get those lists cleaned up,” he said. “Right now Maine shows 103 percent of the population registered to vote. The reason it hasn’t been cleaned up is because communities haven’t had the time or the money to do that.”

The new initiative is part of the state’s plan to comply with the National Voter Registration Act, which is intended to safeguard and improve accessibility to the voting booth. Diamond said Maine regularly is listed among the top five states in voter turnout.

He credited the 1990 entry into “motor-voter” registration as being partially responsible for that distinction. Diamond was hopeful that the newest enhancement of the program will result in an even higher registration rate.