I am disappointed in the Maine Legislature and particularly in Secretary of State Charles Summers for the recent modifications they have made to Maine’s voting laws (“New registration law will not make it more difficult to vote,” June 13).

If everything asserted in Mr. Summer’s Maine Voices column is true (i.e., that it will be just as easy to register to vote now as it was before these changes were passed), why were these changes necessary at all?

It is disingenuous of Mr. Summers to make these assertions, while in the background we have to listen to Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster gloating that these new rules will “keep liberals and socialists from stealing elections,” as if this practice has occurred in the past. Let’s be honest about what this latest move really is — an incremental assault by the extreme right wing of the Maine Republican Party, as represented by people like Charlie Webster and Gov. LePage, on the freedoms and civil liberties of Maine citizens.

As such, it is reprehensible, and Secretary Summers and our representatives in the Legislature should be ashamed of themselves for participating in this charade.

What should we expect next from Augusta, a poll tax for minority voters?