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My dad is 90 years old. If Question 1 passed he would no longer be able to call his town office for an absentee ballot. He has lived in his small Maine town for decades and they know him well. My mother is also very elderly and disabled and she relies on absentee voting.
If passed, Question 1 would stop everyone, including elderly and disabled people, from being able to call their local town or city office for an absentee ballot. It would stop a close family member from being able to pick up and deliver the ballot for that elderly or disabled person. And it would end ongoing absentee ballot delivery for the elderly. It would also eliminate two days of absentee voting and restrict the number of ballot drop boxes our towns and cities can have.
These are not just “small changes” as some people are trying to say.
In 2011, Mainers overwhelmingly voted to restore Election Day voter registration, clearly rejecting the claims of widespread voter fraud that were being used at that time.
In 2012 Republican Maine Secretary of State Charlie Summers investigated a claim that over 200 people voted illegally. He concluded that the claim was not true and that they all voted legally.
We have serious laws against attempts at illegal voting, and there is no evidence that I can find of widespread voter fraud.
Please vote “no” on Question 1 on this fall’s ballot. It goes way too far.
Ron Bilancia
Brewer
