An Aug. 4 Maine Voices column by Barbara McDade contains an error that will needlessly frighten readers (“Maine voters astute enough to restore same-day registration”).

She writes: “Imagine the scene on Election Day, when a longtime resident of a Maine town shows up to vote, maybe after moving in with her children, because she has trouble living on her own. This person has known the clerk for years, but on Election Day she’s turned away, denied her right to vote because politicians in Augusta have let mythology guide policy making.”

She goes on: “Scenes like the one I’ve described will occur thousands of times all over Maine on the next Election Day, unless we take action.”

Actually, scenes like that will occur nowhere.

Ms. McDade should read the new law. If a voter is already registered to vote in a municipality, but moves to another address within the same municipality, he or she is still allowed to vote. The person could complete the change of address application on Election Day and still vote a regular ballot (non-provisional).

Frankly, I’m amazed that the requirement to register two days in advance has provoked such an uproar. In Massachusetts, the registration cutoff comes 20 days prior to an election. In New York, it is a month. Numerous states have 30-day cutoffs, including Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Hawaii and the District of Columbia, just to name a few. The deadline is 29 days before an election in Arizona and Colorado, 28 days in Illinois and 21 days in New Jersey, Maryland and Oregon. Even liberal California ends registration two weeks ahead of time.

Even with the new law, Maine’s system remains “progressive.”

 


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