Our democracy is undergoing a serious stress test.

In 2020, Americans witnessed an unprecedented level of election disinformation spread online by nefarious actors determined to undermine the legitimacy of the electoral process. In January, armed terrorists violently stormed the Capitol Building – one of the most sacred symbols of American democracy – in an attempt to overturn the legitimate results of a free and fair election. Now, while Congress considers S. 1, the sweeping voting rights legislation otherwise known as the For the People Act, state legislatures across the country are seeking to curtail voting opportunities and make voting more difficult for people.

Opposition to common sense voting reforms couldn’t come at a worse time, when the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt our communities, and people want more freedom than ever to vote easily, safely and securely.

We are faced with a choice: Do we give in to these anti-democratic forces, or do we stand up for our democracy by expanding access to the ballot and ensuring our elections better reflect the will of the people?

Here in Maine, we have a history of enacting good laws and rules that remove barriers to voting and strengthen our voting systems. We allow voters to register on the same day they vote; we provide full voting rights to people who are incarcerated or formerly incarcerated; and we don’t force voters to have an “excuse” to vote absentee. Moreover, in March, Gov. Janet Mills signed into law L.D. 102, which extends the time frame for processing absentee ballots. This key reform will reduce strain on our elections infrastructure and improve our ability to quickly report election results.

But there are additional practical steps Maine can take right now to continue its national leadership on voting rights and make voting more accessible to Mainers in future elections.

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First, we must change the fact that Maine is one of only 10 states that does not have online voter registration, which conveniently enables voters to fill out and submit a registration form online. There is a growing consensus that OVR is sound policy: It’s cheaper and more accurate than a paper-based registration, and it increases administrative efficiency. We must implement an inclusive system to ensure all Mainers – including those without driver’s licenses or printers – are able to register to vote online.

Second, now is the time to improve our absentee voting process. Voting by mail has proven to be safe and secure and, in 2020, it worked very well in Maine, where a record number of voters cast their ballot by this method. Sixty-two percent of Mainers who voted in November 2020 did so by absentee.

But we can and must do even better. We should build upon the successes of absentee ballot drop boxes in 2020 to make them part of our permanent elections infrastructure. And, we should pass Speaker Ryan Fecteau’s bill to create an ongoing absentee voting option, so that voters only need to opt in to the system one time to receive a ballot in the mail for all elections going forward.

Mainers, like all Americans, deserve leaders who protect, rather than attack, our democracy. Let’s work together to stop this latest attempt by those who benefit by suppressing votes to break our democracy and continue to push to make our electoral system work for all voters, regardless of who they are or where they come from.


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