It's World Poetry Day. While we're not the best at writing haikus and couplets, we do #GetThingsDone by making democracy work and protecting voters. There's no better poetry than that.
Received Your Postcard in the Mail? The D.C. League wrote thousands of Statehood postcards and sent a number of them to our members here in Maine. We've heard that you contacted your Maine senators, asking them to support and pass the D.C. Statehood bill. These efforts have had a big impact! They've received hundreds of calls and emails from constituents. Let's keep it going — learn more about this vital issue and send a quick message using our handy form today. Keep up on the pressure on Sen. King by calling his office here: (202) 224-5344.
Just a Few Weeks Left to File Your Taxes: When you are filling out your Maine tax forms, you can check a box to designate $3 to the Maine Clean Election Fund. This helps to finance the election campaigns of qualifying Clean Election candidates. The Clean Election check-off is on Line 1 of the Maine Income Tax form. It will NOT increase your tax bill, and it will NOT decrease your refund. Learn more here.
Whether or not it was an omen, the Maine State House flooded last week, which shut down normal operations for a few days. Sessions were canceled as a result, but good things still happened. One thing to note is that we're now just one month away from Statutory Adjournment (or conclusion) of the current session. Things are likely to get a bit crazy from here on out. Here are your updates:
Election Transparency and Audits (LD 1155): Good news for Maine: Gov. Mills' change package to the supplemental budget includes the funding for this bill! It passed last year with strong bipartisan support, and now it's on its way to becoming law. We'll join the 44 other states that have post-election audits. Here’s the Governor’s statement on the change package. And here is Secretary of State Bellow’s statement. We thank them both, along with the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Nicole Grohoski, for bringing this important legislation to the brink of enactment.- Municipal Ranked Choice Voting (LD 859): This bill would allow towns to adopt RCV for municipal elections. Reported out of the State and Local Government Committee with a majority “ought to pass” report.
- Tribal Sovereignty (LD 1626): It got a favorable vote in the Judiciary Committee, but the fight's not over. Once reported out, it'll head to the full Legislature, where the debate will continue. It's considered the “the civil rights issue of our era in Maine." [source]
Join Our Study Group on Lowering the Voting Age to 16
When it comes to controversial topics, history tends to repeat itself. Over a hundred years ago, suffragists fought for their right to vote, and opponents to suffrage argued on completely unscientific grounds that women were intellectually inferior to men. Yikes!
Fifty years ago, opposition to lowering the national voting age to 18 was based on unproven claims that 18-year-olds were too irresponsible and politically immature to be allowed to vote. Like then, opponents now argue that 16-year-olds are too young for the responsibilities of voting.
The national League doesn't have a position on lowering the voting age to 16. We're starting from scratch and tackling this topic, but as an organization, we have to do it the League way. This means that we'll conduct a consensus study to formulate a new policy. Our members will weigh the pros and cons and discuss the issues with each other. At the conclusion of the study, we'll know if we have a consensus that reflects a broad spectrum of views among our membership.
Our first committee meeting for the Voting Age Study is on Tuesday, March 22 from 6:00-7:00 PM. Interested? RSVP by emailing allyson@lwvme.org.