When Mainers voted last week to overturn the Legislature’s repeal of Election Day registration, the state’s voting rights debate shifted immediately to LD 199. The bill, held over from last session, would require voters to show photo identification at the polls. The measure had more than 80 Republican co-sponsors, support that would seem to suggest that Mainers should brace for a debate over voter fraud and disenfranchisement like the one that dominated the months leading up to last week’s referendum on EDR.
But there are political considerations that could determine just how hard Republican lawmakers will push LD 199 when the Legislature reconvenes in January.
Voters defeated the EDR repeal 2-to-1. While progressive groups led the coalition for the people’s veto effort, the campaign message was designed to appeal to voters of all persuasions. Election Day results suggest that effort was successful, as voters in Republican and Democratic districts statewide supported EDR.
Full Article: How hard will Maine GOP push voter ID? | Sun Journal.