Earlier this year, Maine’s governor, Paul LePage, a Tea Party favorite, helped Republican legislators enact a law eliminating Maine’s 38-year-old same-day voter registration policy. They offered the standard excuse Republicans have been using around the country to hinder turnout by Democratic-leaning groups – it was necessary to prevent voter fraud.
Never mind that voter fraud – people trying to vote when they are not entitled to – is no bigger a problem in Maine than in the rest of the country, which is to say it’s not much of a problem at all. Maine has reported two cases in 38 years.
Last week, a resounding 60 percent of Maine’s voters nullified that law, but that hasn’t stopped Republicans in the state house from seeking new ways to combat an imaginary crisis. Now they’re pushing a bill that would require voters to show photo identification at the polls.
The GOP has already imposed voter ID laws on seven states and introduced them in more than 25 others. In each case the intent, or at least the effect, is the same: Voter suppression, mostly of the elderly and minority groups.
Full Article: Maine’s Voter ID Law – NYTimes.com.