There’s been a lot of criticism of our senior U.S. senator, Susan Collins, for her position on the Democrats’ so-called “voting rights” bill. However, I would like to thank Sen. Collins for standing firm in her convictions and working toward finding sensible policy solutions.

The Democrats’ “voting rights” bill is 735 pages of extreme government overreach, and it would come at a great cost and burden to Maine’s municipalities. For example, it would require all polling locations to offer 14 days of in-person early voting – including Saturdays and Sundays – for at least 10 hours per day. Many of the 28 towns I represent are served by small, part-time governments that would struggle to meet this requirement, and it would greatly cost local property taxpayers. This is just one small example of what is included in this large, highly partisan bill.

Maine has one of the highest voter turnout rates in the nation, and the last presidential election saw record-breaking participation. I’m glad Sen. Collins isn’t going along with this bill just to get along and is, instead, working toward bipartisan compromise on common-sense election reforms.

Brad Farrin
Republican state senator
Norridgewock

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