Letters submitted by BDN readers are verified by BDN Opinion Page staff. Send your letters to [email protected]
The Bangor Daily News’ weekend editorial “Maine voter ID referendum is a page from Putin’s playbook” correctly warned that “Republicans across the country are working to limit who can vote and to change other election rules and systems” and that the Rep. Laurel Libby-championed ballot initiative to require photo IDs would also restrict access to absentee ballots, limit drop boxes and make elections difficult. By 2023, the Brennan Center for Justice, New York University School of Law, found that 29 states had already abridged access to the ballot.
Section 2 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that any state that “in any way abridged” access to the ballot for any segment of its (male) voting age population lose seats in Congress (and electoral votes) in proportion to that part of its voting age population so hindered in voting. Federal courts can enforce the 14th Amendment if asked by plaintiffs with standing to sue, as Brown v. Board of Education enforced Section 1 of the 14th Amendment, desegregating schools years before Congress acted.
It seems that when President Donald Trump accuses others of wrongdoing, he’s often planning to do the same thing. The editorial noted that Trump threatened to ban voting machines as not being secure. To ensure our votes are counted correctly, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows should persuade her counterparts to require security measures and public auditing as recommended by the Election Verification Network and Audit Elections USA.
I believe Maine’s Attorney General Aaron Frey and Bellows must sue now in order to protect access to the ballot for all voting-age citizens in Maine and nationwide.
And voters must defeat Question 1 in November to help Maine keep our two seats in Congress.
John Fitzgerald
Sedgwick
