Bill to limit videotaping at polls wins support
AUGUSTA (AP) — A bill that would make it harder to use video cameras to intimidate voters is winning bipartisan support from state lawmakers.
The Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee on Friday voted 11-0 to endorse the bill, which would establish a 15-foot minimum distance between video recorders and voters at the polls. It would also require video recorders to be at least 15 feet away from people collecting signatures.
On Election Day last November, some voters said they felt intimidated when political activists pointed their cameras at them as they signed citizen initiative petitions. Those activists focused on people signing two petitions, one that would raise minimum wage and another to expand background checks for gun purchases.
LePage accused of being insensitive with joke
LEWISTON (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage is being accused of racial insensitivity over a joke about a Chinese investor’s name.
The man’s last name is Chiu – pronounced “choo.” When LePage mentioned him at a Lewiston business breakfast on Thursday, the Republican governor pronounced it with an emphatic fake sneeze. LePage smiled and many at the luncheon laughed.
Chiu is chairman of a Chinese firm that has been investing in U.S. paper mills. He and the governor have met multiple times, though LePage’s office couldn’t provide the businessman’s first name.
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