This newsletter contains a big announcement that we're pretty excited about. Check out the latest Augusta news and then keep scrolling to see the surprise. 
Here are your weekly updates 👇
Last week we were in Augusta to testify on a number of bills, including voicing our support for ongoing absentee voting (LD 1690), and we talked to legislators about our latest State of Maine Democracy report. Have you read it yet? Consider it your next beach read: check it out here.
Public hearing in the SLG // Tues, May 2 // 1:00 PM
- 🌟 New! LD 1704 — Prison Gerrymandering Reform: Prison gerrymandering is the practice of counting incarcerated individuals as part of the district where they're detained — and not by their home address, which is where they lived before and where they vote. This distorts legislative apportionment, beefing up the numbers in the prison district, and under-representing their home community. Redistricting (or apportionment) occurs after the Census count takes place every 10 years. For Census purposes, people are counted where they reside on Census Day, but this doesn’t work for redistricting, resulting in what some people call prison gerrymandering — it leads to false representations of district size. This bill puts an end to that. Districts should represent the actual communities that people call home. We support this one.
Public hearing in the VLA // Wed, May 3 // 1:00 PM
- 🌟 New! LD 1610 — Protect Maine's Elections: This bill will stop foreign government spending in Maine elections. It also calls on Maine's congressional delegation to work for a constitutional amendment that would overturn Citizens United, the Supreme Court ruling that allows unrestricted spending by corporations on political campaigns. Maine Citizens for Clean Elections endorsed the citizen's initiative in 2021, and two years later, we continue to support the effort through this bill.
Exciting announcement
Heather Cox Richardson will speak at our 2023 Biennial Convention.
Convention brings the League together to chart its future, celebrate its successes, and recommit to our mission of empowering voters and defending democracy. This year we're thrilled to welcome Heather Cox Richardson as a keynote speaker!
Convention details:
Hosted in-person and virtually via Zoom
Saturday, June 3
9:00 AM – 3:30 PM
Holocaust & Human Rights Center
(46 University Drive, Augusta)
Seats are limited for in-person attendance, so reserve your spot today! If you’re attending via Zoom, we encourage you to register by May 19 so that you will receive the materials in time for the event.
While all are welcome at Convention, only League members vote. Convention is democracy in action, with members exercising their voting rights to decide the future of our organization. Not sure if you are a current member? Email Nadya at nadya@lwvme.org or call (207) 622-0256.
It’s our policy that we never want cost to be a barrier to participation. While membership dues and registration fees are necessary and important sources of revenue for our organization, there is always a “pay what you can” or a no-cost option for folks who share our mission and want to participate. Join us!
Click here to learn more about Convention or click on a button below to RSVP.
RSVP Below!