Lawmakers consider bill requiring Maine voters to show photo ID at polls

AUGUSTA — Lawmakers are contemplating a invoice that will have Maine be part of the rising variety of U.S. states requiring voters to indicate photograph identification to solid an election poll.

This invoice is the most recent chapter within the years-long debate over election reform, pitting those that imagine voter identification prevents fraud and restores public confidence in elections and those that declare it suppresses turnout amongst susceptible voters and isn’t wanted in Maine.

The creator of this 12 months’s invoice, Sen. Matt Pouliot, R-Augusta, mentioned he believes Maine elections are truthful. However he cited an unbiased 2022 Monmouth Institute ballot that confirmed American confidence within the election system is sinking quick, from 62 % in 1980 to 36 % final 12 months.

Solely six % of these Monmouth polled in 2022 wouldn’t change a factor about our system, he mentioned.

“Whether or not we prefer it or not, notion is actuality,” Pouliot testified throughout a Monday legislative listening to. “If solely 36 % of the voters believes the system is mainly sound, why wouldn’t we take all measures to make sure integrity and restore religion in our system?”

The proposed invoice, L.D. 34, would contemplate a present driver’s license, a state-issued ID card, a U.S. passport, a army ID, or a state allow to hold a hid handgun to be acceptable types of voter ID, as long as they’ve a photograph. A personal Maine faculty or college ID wouldn’t be acceptable, nonetheless.

Supporters imagine that most individuals have some type of acceptable photograph ID as a result of it’s wanted for such on a regular basis actions as shopping for sure over-the-counter chilly treatments, shopping for cigarettes or alcohol, receiving hospital care, and even watching an R-rated film.

However the invoice would enable an individual who doesn’t have a photograph ID to request a free one from the Secretary of State’s Workplace. This is able to forestall somebody who doesn’t drive or is poor from being shut out of the election course of, Pouliot mentioned.

“I hope that this committee will see this invoice for what it’s, which is an effort to revive religion and confidence within the system,” Pouliot mentioned. “Not all of you could be part of the 6 % who assume the system is ideal the way in which it’s. Why not take a look at this as a wise strategy to enhance?”

Opponents declare the invoice will suppress voter turnout typically, largely as a result of it can result in lengthy strains on the polls, and make election staff’ jobs tougher. They worry it can forestall some older, feminine, disabled, and transgender voters from casting ballots.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, whose workplace is in control of voting, advised the committee that forcing folks to hold a selected kind of photograph identification to vote would lead to logistical challenges, monetary burdens, and potential discrimination. She repeatedly insisted it isn’t wanted.

“This isn’t a invoice about whether or not or not we have to make sure the id of Maine voters,” Bellows mentioned. “Maine elections are free, protected and safe … It’s a invoice that will improve prices, problems and penalties to our elections and switch eligible voters away.”

The price of offering free state-issued ID playing cards would surpass $200,000, Bellows estimated.

She famous the problem was studied at size by a state elections fee created in 2012 to check voter participation, voter registration and elections in Maine. The fee voted 4-1 that the unfavourable features of a voter ID legislation outweigh its potential advantages, Bellows mentioned.

Gov. Janet Mills got here out in opposition to the invoice Monday in written testimony submitted to the committee.

“As Mainers we’ve lengthy held that the liberty to vote is a elementary proper,” Mills wrote. “At a time when democracy appears in peril, Maine must be participating its folks within the civic and electoral course of, not on the lookout for methods to disenfranchise them from certainly one of their most elementary rights.”

The general public listening to on the invoice drew dozens of audio system, starting from former ballot staff who claimed to have witnessed voter fraud to opponents who claimed the invoice was an answer in the hunt for an issue. A string of advocates testified the invoice would disenfranchise their members.

Retired physician and veteran David Andrews of Falmouth mentioned his religion in Maine’s elections was shaken when he witnessed two folks voting in a neighborhood election who he believed had moved out of city. The ballot employee later confirmed they’d not lived on the town for years.

“As only one particular person at one desk in a single city, I witnessed fraud,” mentioned Andrews, noting that these specific circumstances had been addressed for future elections. “Although considerably minor, it has undermined my confidence in a single ingredient of our Maine electoral course of.”

However even the invoice’s sponsor, Pouliot, admits there isn’t a proof of fraud in Maine’s elections. Opponents word The Heritage Basis, a conservative assume tank, stories simply two circumstances of duplicate voting in Maine, each occurring in 2010, in its election fraud database.

“This invoice is an answer in the hunt for an issue and admittedly, I’m rising more and more impatient with efforts that lack evidentiary advantage, thus contradicting an educator’s mission to foster vital pondering, analytical reasoning and civic-mindedness,” mentioned Jesse Hargrove of Thorndike.

The Hermon Excessive Faculty social research instructor continued: “This invoice is one other instance of efforts to sow unwarranted mistrust in our election techniques, to attenuate the voice of citizen voters and limit entry … This invoice would place unneeded roadblocks within the pathway of democratic participation.”

Older Mainers, particularly those that stay in nursing properties, assisted dwelling services, or congregate settings and have restricted incomes or disabilities, might discover it exhausting to get the mandatory identification to vote, in accordance with Bridget Quinn, affiliate state advocacy director for AARP Maine.

“Requiring photographic identification might inadvertently create boundaries to voting by complicating the voting course of for voters who might not have a photograph ID as a result of they not have a license,” mentioned Quinn, whose group represents 200,000 older Mainers.

A kind of teams more than likely to be turned away on the polls can be trans voters, advocates mentioned.

Based on the 2021 Maine Transgender Neighborhood Survey, solely 30 % of transgender Mainers have a government-issued photograph ID that appropriately lists their title and gender id, in accordance with Quinn Gormley, government director of the Maine Transgender Community.

Gormley advised the committee she believes that lawmakers who push this sort of laws accomplish that as a result of they know the individuals who can be turned away on the polls weren’t more likely to vote for the elected officers who help these payments. Disenfranchisement is the purpose, she mentioned.

“That is an try and deny minority communities a voice in our democracy whereas systematically empowering elected officers whose concepts don’t produce majorities when our democracy has full participation,” Gormley mentioned. “This invoice is craven, dangerous, and a foul selection for Maine.”

The Maine City & Metropolis Clerks’ Affiliation is split over the invoice. About half the clerks assume it’s wanted to extend voter confidence and reduce potential for voter fraud, and half fear it might create confusion amongst voters and lengthy strains on the polls, mentioned legislative chair Patti Dubois.

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