Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

DAVID B. OFFER: Frivolous legislation might keep some lawmakers out of mischief

David B. Offer

Sometimes I think Maine would be better served if legislators spent all their time -- not just some of it -- debating issues such as whether whoopie pie or blueberry pie should be the official state dessert.

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They could hold more hearings, give more speeches, invite children to submit essays and poems, and talk, talk, talk forever.

That might keep them out of mischief. It wouldn't accomplish much, but it would do less harm than some senators and representatives seem to do when they are not discussing the merits of berries, pies and other delicious goodies.

For example, if Rep. Richard Cebra, R-Naples, had been concentrating on whoopie pies, he might not have had time to come up with a bill to change the way Mainers vote.

Cebra is the sponsor of legislation that would require people to show a photo ID card when they go to vote.

Cebra isn't the only person who should be thinking about pies. Michael Coleman, a tea party activist from Old Orchard Beach, testified in favor of Cebra's bill at a hearing last week. "If an unqualified person casts a ballot, that person is stealing the franchise from us," Coleman said. "I see no reason to oppose this bill unless it's to facilitate fraud."

Let me suggest two reasons that Cebra, Coleman and some others apparently have not considered.

First, it could be expensive. Second, there is no evidence of voter fraud in Maine. This newspaper reported last week that, according to the Maine League of Women Voters, Maine has had two cases of voter fraud in the last 30 years, and both cases were inadvertent mistakes that would not have been prevented by a requirement for voter identification.

Ann Luther of the league said an estimated 100,000 legal Maine voters do not have photo identification cards. The state would have to pay to issue them, and the process would not be free. Luther said Indiana passed an ID law in 2007 and has spent $10 million to provide identification cards.

I doubt that it would cost that much in Maine -- we have fewer people -- but it would certainly cost something. At a time when vital services may be cut to balance the budget, it seems rather silly to find new ways to spend money to solve problems that don't exist.

It is significant that most of the people who do not have photo ID cards -- driver's licenses -- are elderly or poor, often both. Could it be that Republicans who support this plan think it would be better for them or for the state if these people didn't vote?

The photo ID plan isn't the only legislative proposal that would limit voting.

Rep. Gary Knight, R-Livermore Falls, is sponsoring a bill to prohibit same-day voter registration. It might actually save money and unlike Cebra's proposal it does deal with a real problem.

Augusta City Clerk Barbara Wardwell, who knows a lot about elections, said her staff deals with "tons" of same-day registrations -- more than 100 -- especially if there in a presidential election or a hot issue such as gay marriage on the ballot.

Spending 10 minutes or more dealing with paperwork for 100 people who want to vote can be overwhelming on a busy election day, Wardwell told me.

Still, Wardwell said, she supports same-day registration to allow more people to participate in elections, but she favors a change in the law to same-day registration to people who have all the documents and papers the law requires.

Under current law, Wardwell said, people without the proper documents are allowed to vote, but their ballots are set aside until later so proof can be provided. That complicates an already difficult process, she said.

Incidentally, Wardwell does not support Cebra's proposal to require every voter to obtain an ID card and show it at the polls. She said that would disenfranchise people, especially older voters, including some in nursing homes, who don't drive and who have not obtained other ID because they don't need it.

Her common-sense views, backed by experience, offer a better blueprint than legislators who really need to spend more time talking about pies.

David B. Offer is the retired executive editor of the Kennebec Journal and the Morning Sentinel. E-mail davidboffer@hotmail.com