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CONTRIBUTORS

For democracy’s sake, keep voting easy

By Ann Luther, Special to the BDN
Posted Oct. 26, 2011, at 3:59 p.m.
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Democracy works better when more people vote.

Civic-minded people of every political stripe endorse the idea that high voter turnout is good for our country and for our state.

This fundamental value has been at the core, underlying our country’s proud march to universal suffrage, and the American experiment in popular democracy has been a beacon of hope to freedom-loving people around the world.

Over two centuries, American people have moved forward and forward again to claim this democracy for their own, from the elimination of property qualifications for white men, through the abolition of suffrage qualifications based on race, to granting women the right to vote, outlawing poll taxes and literacy tests, and finally extending the franchise to anyone old enough to serve in our armed forces.

For nearly 40 years, same-day voter registration has worked in that same tradition, making it possible for thousands of Mainers to participate in elections.

Election Day registration is the single most effective practice that states can adopt to improve voter participation.

States with Election Day registration consistently outperform states without it, with voter participation rates between 5 percent and 10 percent higher.

If Maine has 1 million eligible voters, repealing Election Day registration could affect between 50,000 and 100,000 voters. If fewer people participate in Maine elections, that’s bad for everyone.

One argument made against Election Day registration is that it allows people to vote who are not eligible. There is absolutely no evidence that this is true. Your chance of getting struck by lightning is greater than your chance of finding this kind of voter fraud.

Our election officials in Maine are professional and capable, and every voter who registers, whether on Election Day or not, must prove to election officials that they are who they say they are and that they live where they say they live. Every prospective voter must swear that they are 18 years old and that they are citizens of the United States. The penalties for providing false information to election officials are significant.

Another argument made against Election Day registration is the claim that just because there is no evidence of voter fraud doesn’t mean that it’s not happening and that we need procedures to make sure that not one mistake slips through.

We could do that. But let’s look at the numbers. In order to prevent even one ineligible voter from slipping through, we would be denying the opportunity to vote to 50,000 citizens who are eligible.

Does that make sense in an inclusive democracy? Does that make sense in Maine?

The fact that 41 other states do not have Election Day registration is no reason to repeal it in Maine. Each one of those states trails Maine in voter participation. We lead. We’ve had Election Day registration for almost 40 years. It works. Why would we want to roll it back?

It is our duty as citizens and it is the duty of our government to make democracy work.

That means that we have a duty and an obligation to foster a culture of civic participation, a duty and an obligation to break down barriers to voting.

We are all diminished — our democracy is diminished — if we tolerate the abridgement of voting rights for a few. We must work vigilantly to protect not only our own rights but also the rights of all our fellow citizens. This is not a partisan issue. Maine citizens who believe in democracy — and who believe in their fellow citizens — want everyone’s voice to be heard through their vote.

Maine has had Election Day registration since 1973 and during the time since Maine has had both high voter turnout and high-integrity elections. Thanks in part to Election Day registration, Maine has one of the highest voter participation rates in the country. That’s something to be proud of. That’s part of who we are.

Let’s not turn back the clock on participatory democracy. Let’s not turn people away from the polls. Let’s win this fight. Vote Yes on Question 1.

Ann Luther of Trenton is a member of the board of directors of the League of Women Voters of Maine.

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  • Anonymous

    Good commentary on the reasons to keep voting in Maine as it has been, and working well.

    Yes on 1.

  • Anonymous

    The usual lies from the usual suspects.  “We would be denying the opportunity to vote to 50,000 citizens who are eligible.”  Patently untrue.

  • Anonymous

    “We are all diminished — our democracy is diminished — if we tolerate the abridgement of voting rights for a few. ”
    ********************************************************************************************

    Exactly! Even if one legal vote is negated by either the intent or negligence of one last minute, illegal vote it’s one too much.

    Voters control their personal responsibility to register but cannot control another voter’s decision to wait till the last minute , exactly when the system is most vulnerable, complicated by a verified high, clerical error rate.

    Vote “NO” on Question 1.

  • Anonymous

    Yes, a high clerical rate at times, which is why Pondlady’s son (tomorrow’s letters) was able to get their error corrected on voting day and was not denied the ability to vote, when it would have been too late.
    Your case is very flawed.

  • Anonymous

    Just so you know, Wall Street and many who support it, don’t give twit about democracy. They would prefer it gone. Watch the Republican primary and you will see that their only interests have nothing to do with you and me. 

    Yes on #1

    Occupy Wall Street.

  • Anonymous

    Over 70,000 Mainers used it in the last two elections. 

  • Anonymous

    Mainers who agree with my “flawed” reasoning  will be voting “No” on Question 1 for the right reasons.

  • Anonymous

    Which fails to demonstrate that those 70,000 would have been denied the opportunity to vote had they been required to register prior to election day.  If you can’t be bothered to register before you vote, you don’t care that much about doing it.  I’m sick of hearing the excuses from these people.

  • Anonymous

    Wake up folks!  If “the powers that be” really wanted, election day would be either on the weekend or a day when all businesses and schools, etc. were closed to make it easy for you to vote.  It is done that way in many countries. Here in the US we have a tradition of making it difficult, ie. the old poll tax, etc…  So don’t make it a political thing….it’s both parties limiting the voting in one way or another.  

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SHNOU64ZBOBIKWUF5IM6WSH7WA entitled4life

    Your logic will fall on deaf ears.  The yes crew will have you believe that for some, it is not at all possible to get to the town and register prior to voting day.  They either work 365 days a year, are old and need assistance or just moved here.

  • Anonymous

    Democracy works better when more people vote.

    So long as they’re the kind of people who can plan at least two days ahead.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jonathan-McKane/1388792038 Jonathan McKane

    Barst – It’s Wall St. (Donald Sussman) that is funding Yes on one!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jonathan-McKane/1388792038 Jonathan McKane

    We mention the 41 other states for a number of reasons. First, it shows that voter registration security is a national problem. Second, it shows that requesting only 2 days is not draconian at all. Third, it shows that “blue” states like California, New York and Massachusetts are also concerned and have done something about it. Maine is not immune to other crimes like embezzlment, theft, murder, drugs – why do you believe that Maine is immune to voter fraud when it is happening all over the country?

  • Anonymous

    and the Republican Party and corporate interests are funding No on one!

  • Anonymous

    Maybe it’s just me… but having an electric bill mailed to your apartment or listing a homeless shelter as your address does NOT prove you’re a legal citizen of voting age who is eligible to vote in Maine.  Period.

    Election-Day registration might make sense if Maine required a vaild, legal PHOTO ID… but we don’t!

    Until that time, it’s NO on Question One!!!

  • Anonymous

    Not enough.

  • Anonymous

    We’ll see.

  • Anonymous

    We need to maintain Maines voting Integrity,  the same day(Citizens for a Day) voting is a joke!
    Acorn would be proud of the massive voter fraud.

    The Sec of state found in a random sample, that of 200 students they sampled, who voted in 2010, 191 failed to convert their driver liscence and car registration to Maine(note they signed the affidavit when they did the Same Day”Citizens for a Day” registration that they would make  Maine their residence and they would follow thru).  Of the 200 they found that 55 had also voted absentee in another state.  They also did further random sample of 300 other people who did same day registration and found 6 illegal aliens registered and found 1 had voted. 
    So if we extrapolate that , it would mean that 1200 illegal aliens are registered to vote.

    Again, we should either require proper photo ID with Maine Liscence to prove your a resident for “Same day Citizen for a Day Registration, or move to the model 40 other states use, and that is cut off registration 30-90 days in advance.

    We do two day cut off to give the town clerks a chance to prepare for the election under the new law.  That is reasonable. 

    Put it this way I have to go to town hall twice a year to re-reigster my cars, If I have to do this then asking someone to go to Town Hall Once to register in advance of the election is not asking too much!

    I will be Voting “NO” to help protect Maines Integrity, we dont want to become a joke like Illinois with Acorn!

  • Anonymous

    70000, where you get that number?

    If true I would say 70000 lazy people. But now that they are registered they shouldnt give a damn!

    Reality is that only students for the most part use same day registration and it has been proven that they really are not Maine residents. They do not change their dirver liscence over to Maine nor car registrations. They are simply “Citizens For A Day”, which is massive fraud in my mind.

  • Anonymous

    exactly, how do they register their cars?  Maybe they need to multi task and register to vote when they are registering their cars and paying their property taxes like most of us hard working citizens who take voting and paying taxes seriously!

  • Anonymous

    Great Points!  It sounds to me like there has been plenty of voter fraud.  I too will be voting NO.  Our republic will never survive, without the basic tenets of voter integrity. 

  • Anonymous

    According to the Maine Secretary of State’s office, among the factors determining whether a person has established a voting residence in a municipality include:   – A direct statement of intention by the person pursuant to section 121.1 (an “oath”);   - The location of any dwelling currently occupied by the person;   - The residence address, not a post office box, where the person receives mail…
    It would seem that for the purpose of voting, most students – wheather origionally from Maine or another state – could readily meet 2-3 of these criteria. 

    And at least one federal court decision has held thatstudents establishing residency for the purpose of voting does not carry over to residency for other purposes, such as establishing the basis for in or out-of-state tuition.

  • Anonymous

    Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. Fewer than a half-dozen incidents of voting fraud in Maine have been documented over the past three decades.

  • Anonymous

    See Scolaro v. District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics, 691 A.2d 77, 86 (D.C. 1997), and Symm v. United States, 439 U.S. 1105, 99 S.Ct. 1006 (1979), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld, without comment, a Texas district court holding that students should receive the same presumption of residency as other citizens.

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