Thursday, September 8, 2011

Putting It to a Vote

It's official. Question 1 will appear on the Maine ballot this November.

Earlier this year we reported that a new law had ended almost four decades of Election Day Registration (EDR) in Maine. But EDR supporters mounted a whirlwind campaign, spearheaded by the Protect Maine Votes coalition, to repeal the law and restore Election Day Registration.

They had less than a month to collect more than 57,000 signatures in order to put the issue before voters this November. They submitted over 70,000 signatures and today the secretary of state confirmed that the referendum will move forward. 

Now that it's officially on the ballot, supporters will have to make their case to voters who will answer the question, "Do you want to reject the section of Chapter 399 of the Public Laws of 2011 that requires new voters to register to vote at least two business days prior to an election?"

Hopefully it won't be too difficult given EDR's popularity: almost 60,000 Maine voters used it in November 2008, along with 18,000 voters in the 2010 midterm.

Congrats to the Protect Maine Votes coalition on this victory--hopefully a taste of what's to come. 

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