2023: a year in review | Democracy Maine

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Jen Lancaster

Here's your 2023 League recap! 💫

As we navigate the challenges that we'll face in 2024, there's still so much to celebrate here in Maine. We're grateful to our local Leagues and League community for your continued support.

Check out some of the highlights from this year 👇

A Loooong Legislative Session

[Pictured: League members at Advocacy Day on 2/14.]

In the first half of the 131st legislative session (from January — July 2023), we followed over 120 pieces of legislation, and it was a whirlwind. The second half will begin on January 3, 2024 and is expected to run until mid-April.

There were a number of good bills that were signed into law in 2023, including Ongoing Absentee Voting (LD 1690), Prison Gerrymandering Reform (LD 1704), and Increasing Legislative Salaries (LD 1155). Some bills didn't make the cut, and it's good that they're dead, including restrictive photo ID bills, and other bills that would have repealed ranked choice voting and banned ballot drop boxes.

Bills that we support that were carried over into 2024 include: Improving Local Election Information (LD 577), National Popular Vote (LD 1578), and Tribal Sovereignty (LD 2007). We'll fight for them in the new year.

Launching Our Toolkits and Guides

In the winter and spring seasons, we launched our Ranked Choice Voting Toolkit, which covers the steps for implementing RCV in your town, and our Guide to Local Government in Maine. Both are resources designed to inspire Mainers to get involved in their local government. Everyone should feel empowered to bring change to their community!

Voting Age Study, Consensus, & New Position

This year we ran a study on lowering the voting age to 16. League members put together an in-depth study guide, led consensus meetings to learn more and discuss the issue, and later, we voted on an official position during the biennial Convention. In the end, we concluded that that voting in Maine elections is a fundamental right that must be guaranteed to Maine citizens 16 years of age and older.

Biennial Convention

[Pictured: Heather Cox Richardson (left) and Alex (right), Youth Council member, at Convention.]

We hosted our Biennial Convention in June and had an amazing turnout! We're always on the mission to protect voting rights, advocate for democracy reform, get big money out of politics, and safeguard free and fair elections. Convention is the time to vote on the future of our organization and reinvigorate these missions. We were lucky to have Shenna Bellows, Stuart Baum, Kimberly Hamlin, and Heather Cox Richardson speak to us about how to safeguard democracy.

Taking Action on Gun Safety

[Pictured: League staff and fellows during a gun safety rally in Augusta on 11/4.]

Following the tragic mass shooting in Lewiston, the League issued a statement condemning gun violence. But we're doing more than just saying what needs to be said — we're taking action and including gun safety legislation as a major piece of our advocacy priorities. We're showing up at rallies and planning to testify in Augusta on common sense gun reforms that Maine needs to prevent future tragedies.

Another Successful Election

[Pictured: Neighbor to Neighbor volunteers canvassing ahead of the Nov. election.]

In November 2023, Maine conducted a successful state election. We deployed over 60 volunteers to the polls and reported what we observed. Through our Neighbor to Neighbor program, we knocked on roughly 500 doors in Portland, South Portland, and Westbrook. About 17,000 voters accessed our Vote411.org database. Local Leagues led candidate and issue forums, and we shared short-form content on the eight ballot questions, in total garnering over 26,600 views!

You can read our full post-election report here. Next, we'll prepare for the challenges of 2024. That means informing voters about the changes to our elections now that semi-open primaries are here and how ranked choice voting will work.

Youth-led Work

[Pictured: Attendees at the Youth Voting Summit during October.]

Throughout the year, Maine Students Vote and the League work with a network of student and civic leaders on college campuses and high schools. Through our internship and fellowship programs, we pay young people to explore democracy and build their civic leadership skills. They create workshops, resources, and events to inspire and educate their peers.

In October, 45 students from across Maine came together to network and build their civic leadership skills at the second annual Youth Voting Summit. Ahead of the November 2023 election, our fellows registered 200 students.

Each month, we also send out a Maine Civic Digest newsletter for educators providing news, ideas and resources to help build a culture of youth civic engagement, put together by the Youth Engagement Team.