Maine GOP alleges rampant voter fraud, stolen elections.

[turbo]

Republicans rammed a measure through the legislature earlier this summer to overturn Maine's same-day voter registration law. That law has been in place for 38 years, and GOP Chairman Charlie Webster claims that it allows Democrats to bus in ineligible voters on election day and steal elections. After an extensive investigation, Republican Secretary of State Charlie Summer says that the Attorney General found exactly one instance of an apparently ineligible person voting since 2002.

Summers and Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster cited the results of Summers' investigation as proof that Maine's voting system needs improvement.

But David Farmer, spokesman for a group that is campaigning to preserve the state law allowing voters to register on the day of an election, said it proved just the opposite.

"Our elections are well-run and efficient," he said. "If you look around the country at the types of problems we've had on Election Day, that does not happen here."

But Farmer, whose group is trying to overturn the law passed in June to require voters to register at least two business days before an election, said Summers' work proved that Webster's allegations of voter fraud were "false, were outrageous and perhaps were defamatory."

Farmer said the letters that Summers sent to students were intended to "scare college students into not voting, and I don't think that's right."

In response to Summers' statement that people who vote in different elections in different states are unpatriotic, Farmer said, "I think when you are exercising your right to vote, that's one of the most patriotic things you can do."

Who benefits from same-day registration? Students whose residences change, working people who live in rentals and may have to change residences, and people who are less-affluent or perhaps elderly and do not have easy access to transportation. Republicans see these as Democratic-leaning voters and want to disenfranchise them, according to Democratic critics of the new law. We have plenty of signatures on petitions to force a peoples' referendum on the issue this fall, and hopefully reason will prevail.

Lots of small towns here have very limited office hours, so it's not always easy for a resident to get time off from work, etc, to get to the town office and register.

http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/vote-probe-finds-one-violation_2011-09-21.html

 

[WhoWee]

It's a good thing they have advance notice of the change - about 6 weeks until the next election. Given the controversy - most local folks should now be aware of the change and be able to register in the alotted time. Also given the petition drive - the people most impacted should turn out in droves. I do see one negative. If immigrants from the Southern border states wait until October to migrate to Maine - they may not have enough time to register this year.

 

[maine75man]

While it is certainly wrong to vote in the same election in two different states I fear part of the GOPs goal is to discourage out of state college students from polling in Maine. Any US citizens living in Maine for whatever reason have the right to register to vote locally.

 

[mege]

What's the saying? "A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part." Besides, isn't there a residency requirement? These voters whom are moving around often could easilly vote in their previously registered location via absentee ballot (thinking of students mostly). When I lived in Michigan and moved around election time I filled out a 'new arrival' form at my new precinct and used my previous district's voter card as proof. They took my ballot by hand and I preume verified my identity independently. The article you quoted even noted that 77 students were registered to vote in two different states - which is against the law if done knowingly. These students could easilly fill out an absentee ballot for home and go to the poll at school - allowing some search time could prevent that.

What proof is there that these measures are meant to legitimately curb non-Republican voters? I hear that argument often, but it's never substantiated except with 'Well, look at the people that might be effected!' It seems like this is basically just a 'fight the man' type argument from the left as they don't really have any substance to fight this type of voter-registration policy.

 

[turbo]

The editorial board of the local newspaper (decidedly conservative) has chimed in with a reality-check. In short, the Maine GOP has no basis for claiming that our registration system is flawed, as proven by their own investigation - one invalid registration 'way back in 2002.

Before tearing apart our state's voting practices and traditions, as the Republican-controlled Legislature did this year with the elimination of election day voter registration, we should do a comprehensive study of how votes are cast and determine if there are problems that need fixing.

That would call for more than cracking down on college students trying to exercise their constitutional rights just because they are perceived to favor Democratic candidates on election day.

It also should look at absentee ballots that are used by both parties, but most effectively by Republicans, as get-out-the-vote tools. The number of absentee ballots has grown as a percentage of votes cast from 11 percent in 2000 to 32 percent in 2008, presenting far greater opportunity for fraud than a few hundred out-of-state student voters.

http://www.onlinesentinel.com/opinion/proof-is-in-time-to-stop-claiming-voter-fraud-exists_2011-09-22.html

 

[kings7]

What a waste of time and money.