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June 2, 2010

Petitioners for non-citizen vote collect 2,000 signatures

By Tom Bell tbell@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

Organizers who are petitioning to give non-citizens the right to vote in Portland elections say they have gathered about 2,000 signatures and plan to collect at least 3,000 more at polling places around the city on Election Day next Tuesday.

The group needs to collect 4,495 valid signatures by July 14 to put a question on the ballot next November.

The League of Young Voters is leading the petition drive.

At a press conference at City Hall today, several politicians showed their support, including former state representatives Mike Brennan and John Eder, Rep. Peter Stuckey, D-Portland, City Councilors David Marshall and Dan Skolnik, School Committee member Jenna Vendil,  and Charter Commission members Lorie Davis, Ben Chipman and Anna Trevorrow.

About 30 volunteers are gathering the signatures. Jack Woods, who is coordinating the drive, said petitioners have run into people who strongly oppose the proposal but at the same time have been respectful of the petitioners.

“Nobody has gotten angry or mad about it,” he said. “It’s been very civil.”

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