Maine: Homeless vote a non-issue in Maine referendum | Houston Chronicle

The right of homeless people to vote has become a non-issue in Maine’s referendum debate over voter registration.On Nov. 8, Mainers will decide whether to repeal a new law that requires voters to register at least two business days before an election. Passage would restore a state policy allowing election-day registration.

The debate has touched on the right of homeless people to vote. But as the Kennebec Journal in Augusta Reports Monday, both sides agree that the homeless have that right.

Maine: Same day voting question approved for November ballot | The Kennebec Journal

Mainers will have an opportunity this fall to affirm or overturn legislation passed in June to repeal the state’s 38-year-old law allowing voters to register on the day of an election. Secretary of State Charlie Summers validated more than 70,000 signatures — about 13,000 more than needed to force the referendum– on Thursday, about a month after opponents of the new legislation submitted them.

The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the voter registration law largely along party lines. Supporters of the measure said that eliminating same-day registration would help ease the workload of municipal clerks, even though a representative of the Maine Town and City Clerks’ Association said the group wouldn’t mind maintaining the practice.

The prohibition on same-day registration cannot take effect while a people’s veto is pending. A portion of the law that sets new limits on absentee voting is not part of the people’s veto effort and will not be affected by the referendum.

Maine: Rhetoric heats up in Maine people’s veto move | BostonHerald.com

Supporters of an effort to preserve election day voter registration in Maine insist it’s not a partisan issue, but their effort to let voters decide the issue is drawing sharply opposing views from Democrats and Republicans.

The rhetoric heated up as the coalition to keep same-day registration gave state election officials petitions that could force a November referendum on the issue. More than 68,000 voters’ signatures were turned in Monday, and the campaign said the total could reach about 70,000 before the filing deadline arrived Tuesday afternoon.

The Protect Maine Votes coalition — 18 groups that include organized labor, civil libertarians, consumer and public health advocates, disabled and homeless groups — is seeking to repeal a state law that requires registration at least two business days before an election.

Maine: Mainers likely to have say in Election Day voter registration | Bangor Daily News

A broad coalition of advocacy groups and volunteers has gathered more than 68,000 signatures in an effort to allow Maine voters to affirm or overturn a recently passed law that bans Election Day voter registration. Those signatures, well above the 57,277 needed to ensure a people’s veto, were delivered to the Secretary of State’s Office on Monday afternoon, one day before the deadline and exactly one month after the effort began.

As long as enough of the gathered signatures are certified by the Secretary of State, Mainers will get to weigh in this November on the following question: “Do you want to reject the section of Chapter 399 of the Public Laws of 2011 that requires new voters to register to vote at least two business days prior to an election?”

Editorials: Voters astute enough to reinstate same-day registration | The Portland Press Herald

Maine has taken a step backward on voters’ rights. Along with five other concerned Mainers, I filed paperwork with the secretary of state to overturn legislation that eliminated Election Day voter registration.

For 38 years, Maine has allowed voters to show up on Election Day, register and then cast their ballots. It’s a system that has worked remarkably well, helping Maine to become a national leader in voter participation.

The legislation changing that was developed and passed, based largely on myth. But I am convinced that Maine voters can discern fact from fiction and will support our efforts to restore Election Day voter registration. The League of Women Voters of Maine, which I represent, is a nonpartisan organization committed to protecting voting rights and the integrity of elections at the local, state and federal levels.

Maine: Election Day registration supporters battle opponents’ stagecraft | Sun Journal

Supporters of a people’s veto campaign to restore Election Day voter registration were obviously concerned when Secretary of State Charlie Summers announced last Wednesday that he was holding a news conference to discuss what his office described as “preliminary findings regarding voter fraud allegations.”

The group’s anxiety was partially attributable to fears that Summers may have discovered voting impropriety within Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster’s mysterious — some say dubious — list of 206 out-of-state college students. But more worrisome to the coalition was the scene that unfolded the next day in Summers’ office.

A throng of television cameras, radio and print reporters awaited his remarks. Supporters of same-day voter registration knew that visuals of Summers in his office would appear on that night’s newscasts, that afternoon’s newspaper websites and in print the next day.

Maine: Same Day Voter Registration and Charlie Webster’s Infinite Wisdom | Price on Politics

I have been avoiding this topic for the past couple of weeks because it has received plenty of coverage, but given GOP Chairman Charlie Webster’s latest actions, it was time for a college student’s take on the matter. For the past four years I have been a registered Republican in a college town and as frustrating as it often can be to go up against the liberal leanings of the area, restricting voting access is wrong and will not change the outcome of elections.

I am from Maine and have voted since I was 18, and never once was it in my hometown. I follow the local politics of the area I reside in and am most informed about the issues of that area. While I am not one of the students Webster has decided to target, I still take issue with his accusations. I’d also be curious to know where LePage’s children voted during their time (paying in state tuition?) attending college in Florida. If we are heading down this road, why not look at Maine citizens voting in other states while attending school. Does this concern Webster? No, because to him they represent one less liberal voting in a Maine election.

Maine: State GOP Chair: Students Who Vote And Pay Out-Of-State Tuition Are Committing Voter Fraud | TPM

Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster is claiming that college students who pay out-of-state tuition rates and vote in state are committing voter fraud. At a press conference at the Maine State House, Webster gave the media a list of over 200 students — their names redacted — who paid out-of-state tuition rates but were registered to vote in the state.

Webster said he came up with the list because of opposition from voter rights groups to a law passed by the Republican-led legislature in June which banned voter registration on Election Day. A coalition of groups have launched a petition drive to overturn the law.

One problem. The University of Maine only allows individuals who previously lived in Maine — those who aren’t just living into the state to attend school — to pay a discounted in-state tuition rate.

Maine: GOP leader Webster claims voter fraud | The Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME

Maine Republican Party Chairman Charles Webster said Monday he’s uncovered more than 200 cases of election fraud in Maine. And he says as many as 8 to 10 percent of the out-of-state students he saw registered to vote in Maine were registered to vote in two places.

Maine election law states that, in order to register, a voter has to declare Maine as his or her residence and intends to return there after absences. “Our election laws need reform and I believe are being abused,” Webster said at a State House news conference.

… Webster’s claims of fraud were quickly shot down by Democrats and leaders of a coalition trying to force a statewide repeal vote.

Maine: Petition drive seeks return of same-day registration | The Kennebec Journal

Leaders of the effort to repeal a new law eliminating Mainers’ ability to register to vote on Election Day are “cautiously optimistic” that they will succeed in getting the issue on November’s ballot.

Opponents of the law must gather more than 57,000 signatures of registered Maine voters by Aug. 8 to put the repeal question on the statewide ballot in the fall.

Mark Gray, campaign manager for Protect Maine Votes, said, “We’re getting just an overwhelming amount of positive response, both from people that are calling or sending us emails, wanting to volunteer to circulate petitions, and the people that are out knocking on doors and talking to folks to collect signatures.”

National: Bill Clinton: GOP War on Voting Is Most Determined Disenfranchisement Effort Since Jim Crow | ThinkProgress

Speaking yesterday at the annual Campus Progress convention, former President Bill Clinton called out the GOP’s state by state efforts to make it harder to vote— a war on voting designed almost entirely to reduce the number of Democrats who cast ballots:

I can’t help thinking, since we just celebrated the Fourth of July and we’re supposed to be a country dedicated to liberty, that one of the most pervasive political movements going on outside Washington today is the disciplined, passionate, determined effort of Republican governors and legislators to keep most of you from voting next time. There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the other Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today.

Maine: Coalition to wage people’s veto campaign to revive Election Day voter registration law | Bangor Daily News

Critics of the Legislature’s recent decision to end Election Day voter registration in Maine said Thursday a broad coalition is building to quickly collect the 57,000-plus signatures needed to put the issue in front of voters this November.

“We are organized, we are energized and we will be successful,” said Ben Dudley, executive director of Engage Maine, a coalition of progressive groups.

After heated debate that elevated partisan tensions in Augusta, the Legislature voted largely along party lines earlier this month to repeal Maine’s 38-year-old law allowing voters to register at the polls on Election Day.

Maine: Push to repeal new voting law in Maine | wlbz2.com

One of the more controversial decisions of this year’s legislative session is still being debated – and may ultimately be decided at the ballot box.

Lawmakers voted to eliminate election-day voter registration in the state. The Maine Civil Liberties Union, League of Women Voters and some other groups are angry, and are launching a “people’s veto” campaign to overturn the new law. For 39 years, Maine has allowed people to register to vote up to and including Election Day itself. In 2008, roughly 49,000 voters registered on Election Day. In 2010, according to the Secretary of State’s office, about 18,000 registered on Election Day. But that law has now changed.

Maine: LePage signs bill banning same-day voter registration, but critics vow to fight | Bangor Daily News

Gov. Paul LePage has signed a controversial bill that bans voters from registering on an election day, but critics who say the law disenfranchises voters have vowed to challenge that change through the citizens’ referendum process.

The governor signed LD 1376 on Tuesday, along with several other bills that have come across his desk in recent weeks, but did not offer any comments, LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett said.

The bill, an Act To Preserve the Integrity of the Voter Registration and Election Process, was sponsored by House Speaker Robert Nutting, R-Oakland, and endorsed by Secretary of State Charlie Summers, In addition to eliminating same-day voter registration, the legislation bans absentee voting two days before Election Day.

Maine: Bill signed ending same-day voter sign-up | The Kennebec Journal

Gov. Paul LePage signed a bill Tuesday to repeal Maine’s 38-year-old law allowing same-day voter registration. Before the end of the day, a coalition led by the League of Women Voters of Maine filed paperwork with the Secretary of State’s Office to launch a people’s veto campaign.

“We feel that we want to preserve voting rights in Maine,” said Barbara McDade, president of the league. “For 38 years, people have been able to register to vote on the day that they vote. This puts up a barrier to people and so we want to repeal that.”

Joining McDade was Bob Talbot, representing the Maine Civil Liberties Union and the Maine NAACP, and Evert Fowle III of the MCLU.

Maine: Voter ID bill returning to legislative panel | Morning Sentinel

A law that would require Maine voters to present photo identification for every election is still before the Legislature, though it has failed to gain the two-thirds support it needs for passage. While a majority of senators voted against the bill, lawmakers eventually decided to send it back to committee for revision.

Also uncertain is the fate of a recently passed bill that would eliminate Maine’s 38-year-old law allowing same-day voter registration, with at least one group vowing to lead a people’s veto campaign against it. Opponents of both measures say they are part of a nationwide Republican effort to restrict voting by certain populations.

“Voter suppression bills have been advanced in states all across the country with the effect of surely reducing voter turnout in the next elections,” said Shenna Bellows, executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union.
She said the bills would affect young voters, elderly voters and those who struggle to get time off from work to vote.

Editorials: Greg Kesich: Maine GOP not alone in trying to lower voter turnout | The Portland Press Herald

Find Maine on a map and you see that we are stuck in the upper right-hand corner of the nation, not on anyone’s way anywhere. But politically we can be right in the middle, and a little home-grown issue can turn out to be an item on someone’s national agenda.

How else can you explain the sudden interest in election reform bills, which have been hotly contested in this year’s legislative session?

It’s certainly not a response to voter fraud, although state Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster appears to have a gut feeling that it has been widespread since the Muskie era. (How else would all those Democrats win elections?)

Editorials: Rosa Scarcelli: Maine Voting Rights Under Attack | Huffington Post

Following a disturbing national trend, Tea Party Republican Gov. Paul LePage and his allies in Maine’s Legislature have used questionable tactics to push through legislation to make it harder for people to vote.

Late on Friday afternoon, Republicans in the Maine State Senate gave the governor his wish and sent to him a bill that will end Election Day registration.

Maine has allowed voters to register to vote on Election Day for 38 years. In that time, there have been only two cases of voting fraud related to same-day registration.

Maine: Move to Eliminate Maines Same Day Voter Registration Law Draws Protests | MPBN

A bill to do away with same-day voter registration in Maine is expected to be signed into law this week. The measure gained legislative approval late Friday night after a long and heated debate in the state Senate. Supporters claim it will safeguard against voter fraud and make life easier for overworked municipal clerks on Election Day. But civil liberties groups say the law will disenfranchise thousands of Maine voters.

LD 1376 was approved by the state Senate on Friday night after a lengthy, and at times emotional, debate–none more emotional than Brunswick Democrat Stan Gerzofsky.

“And people can walk out of this room tonight if they don’t want to hear the truth. That’s fine with me. But my voice isn’t going to get lower because you’re doing it. It’ll get louder, and louder, and louder,” he shouted, to the bang of a gavel. “Mister Chair, I’m sorry I’m yelling.”

Maine: GOP chairman’s charge that Democrats ‘steal’ election causes stir | Bangor Daily News

Tempers flared in the state Senate on Friday after the chairman of the Maine Republican Party suggested Democrats “steal elections” by taking advantage of Maine’s policy allowing voters to register at the polls on Election Day.

A proposal to end Maine’s 38-year-old policy of same-day voter registration was already one of the most contentious of the legislative session. Lawmakers have spent hours debating whether the bill would improve the integrity of Maine’s election system — as Republicans insist — or disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters — as Democrats suggest.

On Friday, the partisan tensions boiled over in the Senate thanks to comments from Maine GOP Chairman Charlie Webster.

Editorials: Voters need to be able to register at polls | NJ.com

Gabriela G., Annalee S. and Ed V. are Rutgers University students who eagerly went to the polls to vote in the November 2008 general election. All three had registered to vote, prior to the 21-day deadline, from their college addresses.

However, when they went to cast their ballots, they were surprised to find that their names were not on the voting lists. They were directed to either leave the polling place or to vote by paper provisional ballots, which are checked post-election against the voting rolls. However, they were not informed of the strong likelihood that their provisional ballots would be thrown out, since their names were not in the system.

 

Editorials: Maine Voices: Legislature should not revoke Mainers’ voting rights | The Portland Press Herald

The Maine House and Senate are poised to limit the most fundamental democratic process — voting. L.D. 1376, “An Act To Preserve the Integrity of the Voter Registration and Election Process,” will eliminate Maine’s nearly 40-year tradition of Election Day registration. It is a very bad deal for Maine voters. Election Day registration means that voters can register and vote on the same day. It works well.

Eliminating Election Day registration will disenfranchise the thousands of Maine citizens who rely on it. And to what end? There have been only two cases of voter fraud prosecuted in Maine in 30 years. In addition to Maine’s tradition of election integrity, we have a tradition of vibrant civic engagement. In fact, Maine has one of the highest rates of voter participation in the country.

This move will turn back the clock on our democracy. It will turn back the clock on voting rights.

Maine: End of Election Day Registration in Maine? | Thomas Bates/Rock the Vote Blog

A bill pending in the Maine legislature (LD 1376) would eliminate Same Day Registration (SDR), which allows people to register to vote and cast their ballot on Election Day. The result will be decreased voter turnout and otherwise-eligible voters, especially young and first-time voters, being turned away at the polls on Election Day.

This latest unnecessary and insidious attack on youth voting rights is expected to come up for a vote in the state House any day now.

Maine: Secretary of State supports bill eliminating same-day voter registration in Maine | Bangor Daily News

Secretary of State Charlie Summers and Republican leaders are supporting a bill that would eliminate Maine’s 38-year-old same-day voting registration and ban absentee voting two business days before Election Day.

Proponents say the bill is designed to ease the workload of town clerks overwhelmed by an increasing number of voters who cast absentee ballots and who wait until the election to register.

But critics counter that those voters often are students, the elderly or disabled. Groups such as the Maine Civil Liberties Union believe LD 1376 is an attempt by Republicans to gain an electoral advantage.

Maine: If same-day voting ends in Maine, legislator hopes to add opt-out clause | Portland Daily Sun

Legislation ending same-day voter registration in Maine may come up for a vote today, and if it does and is passed, a Portland legislator said he will offer an amendment that would allow cities such as Portland to opt out.

Rep. Ben Chipman, I-Portland, said he remains opposed to LD 1376, a bill eliminating “registration of new voters on election day and during the two business days before election day.” The bill was voted out of committee last month and now faces a vote by the full Maine House of Representatives.

Maine: Coalition Battles GOP Plan to Eliminate Same-Day Voter Registration in Maine | MPBN

A bill that would eliminate same-day voter registration has some heavy-hitters behind it. Secretary of State Charles Summers says he crafted the bill as a way to lighten the workload for clerks on Election Day, and he’s gotten leaders of the Republican majority in both houses to be sponsors.

But opponents says the bill’s passage will get rid of a four-decade old tradition, and throw up a barrier to voting for people who can’t register ahead of time. A coalition representing a diverse group including single mothers, seniors and the disabled is using the Memorial Day weekend to urge House Republicans to break with their party before an expected vote Tuesday.

Editorials: Bill to end same-day voter registration in Maine a solution in search of a problem | Bangor Daily News

In 1973 the last Republican-controlled Legislature unanimously passed “same-day registration” allowing voters to register and cast their votes in a one-step process on Election Day. Same-day registration has been an overwhelming success.

Since it passed, Maine has risen from 21st in the country in voter participation to 3rd in the country. A higher percentage of Maine voters participate in our local and national elections than the voters of any other state except Minnesota and Wisconsin, both of which also have same-day voter registration. In fact, same-day registration is the single-most important thing states can do to improve voter participation by 5 to 15 percent.

Editorials: Ben Chipman: Bill to end same-day voter registration in Maine could take away right to vote for thousands of people | Portland Daily Sun

For the last forty years, Maine has allowed people to register to vote on Election Day and cast a ballot if they have proof of residency and some form of identification. A bill making its way through the Maine Legislature this session, L.D. 1376, would prohibit same-day voter registration and eliminate voting rights we have had since 1972.

It is hard enough to get people to vote now. Why would anyone propose making voting more difficult? Some have said that processing new registrations on Election Day is too much of a burden for city and town clerks and that allowing people to register and vote the same day opens up the potential for fraud.