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STATE HOUSE

Bill aimed at absentee voting resisted

By Rebekah Metzler rmetzler@mainetoday.com
MaineToday Media State House Writer

AUGUSTA -- A proposal aimed at easing the burden on municipal clerks around Election Day received push back from several groups during a public hearing on Monday who said eliminating same-day voter registration would disenfranchise Maine voters.

The measure -- L.D. 1376 -- was sponsored by House Speaker Bob Nutting, R-Oakland, and supported by Secretary of State Charlie Summers. It would ban absentee voting during the two business days before Election Day for most voters, in addition to eliminating voter registration for most voters during the same time frame and on Election Day.

"The rapid increase in absentee voting in the last decade has created new challenges for our municipalities," Nutting said during the hearing before the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee.

The Maine Town and City Clerks Association testified in support of the proposal, but did say they would also favor an amendment that preserved the same-day registration law.

"I am a little bit concerned about disenfranchising voters, I'd much prefer to continue with the process we have in place," said Patti Dubois, city clerk of Bangor, referring specifically to the voter registration provision.

Tracy Stevens, town clerk from Fairfield who spoke on behalf of the trade association, said the rest of Nutting's bill would go a long way towards easing the Election Day burden.

"Currently most clerks are at their breaking point when it comes to absentee voter turnout; a large portion of our time is spent tracking and processing absentee ballots," she said.

Same-day registration was unanimously passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 1973, but there has been a more recent push to increase absentee voting.

Augusta City Clerk Barbara Wardwell said she's noticed a significant increase in absentee voting over the last 10 years or so.

"I am seeing a much higher percentage, from election to election, of absentee votes, which everyone has across the board," said Wardwell in an interview. "We have longer lines here on the Friday and Monday before Election Day than we do in the polling place."

Neither Nutting nor Summers could point to a significant incident in Maine that prompted their concerns, but emphasized the importance of getting out ahead of any potential problems.

"Our responsibility is to make sure every Mainer has full access to their sacred right to cast a ballot. In order to ensure this, we need to adopt a lean forward approach to our electoral oversight," said Summers, who added that in 2008, about 15 percent of all absentee ballots were cast in the last two business days before Election Day.

Both said Mainers would still have 247 days in the year to register to vote.

"Absentee ballots have been good for the citizens of the state of Maine. I see this as just being an attempt to reduce the workload of the municipal clerks," Nutting said.

But groups including the Disability Rights Center, League of Women Voters of Maine, the Maine Civil Liberties Union, the Maine Municipal Association, the Maine League of Young Voters and the Maine Women's Lobby all spoke against the proposal, mostly citing concerns about the change in the voter registration law.

Maine has one of the highest voter turnouts in the country, in part because of the same-day registration provision, said Michelle Small of the League of Women Voters of Maine.

John Smith of Brunswick, a former Maine deputy secretary of state for 10 years, said the measure would be a "radical departure" from the way Maine has successfully run elections.

"(It) imposes a new, unnecessary and entirely unwarranted set of burdens that will adversely impact several tens of thousands of voters in every election," he said.

And there may be more to the proposal that meets the eye, said Mark Brewer, a political science professor at the University of Maine.

"There's no doubt that there's a partisan edge to the registration part," he said. "If you're a Democrat, you want as few restrictions on registration and voting as you can possibly get. And if you're a Republican, you want tighter registration and voting requirements."

That's because, generally speaking, in recent decades the Democrats have been the party of the "have-nots" and Republicans have been the party of the "haves," Brewer said.

He said countless studies over the years have shown that the easier it is to register and vote, the higher the voter turnout is in general and the more likely it is that people with lower education levels and lower incomes turnout.

Rebekah Metzler -- 620-7016

rmetzler@mainetoday.com