How we speak and write about election results is important. Maine has slightly over 1 million registered voters. To represent a turnout of slightly over 400,000 voters (40 percent) as an “ excellent turnout,” as Secretary of State Shenna Bellows was quoted in the Nov. 4 Press Herald, is setting a low bar for voter participation in our state’s democratic experiment.
When you define the Question 1 vote as a percent of registered voters, 24 percent voted “yes,” 16 percent voted “no” and 60 percent (the majority) did not vote. The print and television media are saying that the majority of Mainers voted “yes.” Actually, the majority of people who voted, voted “yes” – but not the majority of Mainers.
We have many difficult issues facing our state. Democracy only works if we have broad participation in our electoral process. The major takeaway from this election is that we need to get more than 40 percent of registered voters voting, so we can actually have a majority of Mainers deciding these critical issues.
Richard White
Scarborough
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