Democratic leaders, as well as a steady stream of letters to Maine newspapers, have characterized U.S. Senate Bill S.1 as vital to preserve our democracy. They claim it is about voting rights, but a closer examination of the bill reveals that it is actually a partisan assault on our elections.
Here are just a few of the absurd proposals this bill contains:
- It would require states to allow ballot harvesting, a dubious practice where unauthorized individuals go door-to-door to collect ballots and potentially “help” voters fill them out. Understandably, this is currently illegal in Maine.
- It would change the balance of power at the Federal Elections Commission, which is currently equally divided between the two parties and fairly calls electoral balls and strikes, by making it a partisan body controlled by one party.
- It would force states to accept absentee ballots that arrive up to a week after an election, potentially changing the outcome and giving the losing party an opening to dispute the results.
Maine, like the vast majority of states, has done just fine regulating its own elections, boasting one of the highest levels of voter participation in the country. We do not need Democrats in Washington D.C. dictating how Mainers should vote. Senator Susan Collins made the right choice to reject S.1. Real voting reform should be fair and bipartisan, not a copy and paste of Democrats’ partisan wish list.
Jon Kinney
Chairman
York County Republican Committee