Growing up in a small town in Maine, I believed that the differences between the well-off and the not-so-well-off were circumstantial and not a reason for discrimination.

That’s not entirely true, because no society is entirely homogeneous, and there are always people who hold prejudices against people unlike themselves. But wealth wasn’t the issue.

But this Maine doesn’t resemble the Maine of my memory. Increasingly, the state of Maine has been eroding entitlement programs designed to assist people in the very basics required for survival.

From the outside looking in, it feels like an all-out attack on the poor, who have been characterized as lazy cheaters.

On May 6 (“Maine Democrats block bill to require voters to show photo ID”), the Press Herald reported on a proposal to require picture IDs for voting in Maine. Does anyone get that this is discriminatory and again, places another tax on the poor?

This is not the Deep South, where this has been tried to prevent targeted groups from voting. Many people don’t have picture IDs. If you don’t drive, take a plane or have a checking account, you usually don’t need one.

A picture ID costs money. And there are additional costs: transportation, lost time at work, baby sitters.

There is something wonderful about going to the polls, verifying your name and address and casting your vote. It really makes me feel that this is what America is about.

It’s not news that the poor don’t have a voice when it comes to cutting social programs. Keeping them away from the polls simply reduces the chance that they might be heard.

Rachel Schwartz

South Portland

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