Speaker of the House Robert Nutting (Oct. 7) misunderstands the reason why the Protect Maine Votes coalition released the names of lawmakers who voted to end same-day voter registration despite having themselves used it to register to vote.

We support same-day registration. It’s a law that has worked for nearly 40 years. And it’s a law that has worked even for many of the people who would deny others the opportunity, including Gov. Paul LePage and other lawmakers.

Our campaign did not call any of these lawmakers hypocrites. In fact, we asked them — respectfully — only to consider the circumstances that led them to use same-day voter registration and then to reconsider their vote to take it away from everyone else.

On Sept. 27, during a special session of the Legislature, these lawmakers could have fixed their mistake. They chose not to.

Rep. Amy Volk’s registration card says she became a registered voter on Oct. 30, 1999 — within the timeframe that is no longer allowed. When her town office was asked when she registered, the person responded: Oct. 30, 1999. The registration card, however, shows that it was signed three days earlier, on Oct. 27.

Perhaps some error, human or otherwise, led to a delay in her registration. Unless we vote yes on Question 1 in November, the same thing could happen to future voters. But instead of casting a vote, they could be turned away on election day.

David Farmer

Protect Maine Votes

Portland


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