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I’m voting no on ballot Question 1. I work as a merchant mariner and find myself at sea away from Maine almost every election. That means the only way I am able to cast my vote is through absentee voting.
But this fall, a threat to absentee voting is on the ballot. It would make it much harder for me and my fellow merchant mariners to vote.
Voting is a right that all Americans are supposed to enjoy, but ballot Question 1 threatens that right. Absentee voting doesn’t just serve those of us away from home, it ensures all Mainers can vote whether they’re busy with work and childcare or simply cannot physically go to the polls.
I do not support any effort to make voting more difficult than it needs to be. So I urge my fellow Mainers to vote “no” on ballot Question 1 and protect all of our rights to vote.
Will Melcher
Bowdoin
