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Monday, January 27, 2025
Jen Lancaster
 

It's Monday, January 27.

So many bills, so little time. Let's get into it.

 
 

The 132nd Legislature is picking up speed. Legislative committees are receiving their assigned bills and scheduling dates for public hearings. Maine is unique in that every bill has its own public hearing. This is the time for everyone to offer their opinion on the legislation through testimony. It's an important step in the process. Anyone can testify as: supporting, against, or neither for nor against. You can submit written testimony or deliver testimony in-person in Augusta (or likely over Zoom). See our quick guide to writing testimony.

Here are upcoming public hearings on priority bills:

Monday, January 27 // 10:00 AM // VLA Committee

  • LD 13: Election Materials Fund — This bill helps to establish an ongoing fund to support the production and delivery of election materials, such as voter registration applications, absentee ballot envelopes, and other supplies. This bill also establishes a working group to study schools as polling places, in terms of safety, security, and accessibility. The League will testify in support. 

Monday, February 3 // 10:00 AM // VLA Committee

  • LD 118: Expand Clean Elections — This bill expands the Clean Election program to include candidates running for sheriff and district attorney. The League will testify in support. We know that Clean Elections encourages more people to run for office and allows them to serve without being beholden to big donors or special interests.
  • LD 175: Amend Maine Constitution to Ensure only U.S. Citizens Vote — The bill amends Maine's Constitution to specify that only citizens of the U.S. are eligible to vote in any federal, state, or municipal election. Noncitizens already are not permitted to vote in elections. Shifting the text of the constitution could weaken rights for eligible voters, and for this important reason, we oppose this bill.
  • 🚨 ACTION ALERT 🚨 LD 234: Eliminate Ranked Choice Voting — Since 2011, the League has endorsed and fought for Ranked Choice Voting. We believe it gives more choice to voters and eliminates the spoiler effect. We oppose this bill. We encourage you to write testimony in opposition to this bill. See our quick guide.
 
 
Tell Jared Golden, Susan Collins, Angus King, and Chellie Pingree to OPPOSE the SAVE Act
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act is a dangerous bill that would require voters to prove their citizenship by showing a passport or birth certificate in order to register to vote. It’s already illegal for noncitizens to cast a ballot in federal elections. The SAVE Act is plain voter suppression because more than half of American citizens don't have a passport. Plus, many Americans don't have ready access to a birth certificate, much less one that shows their current name. Tell your U.S. Representative and Senator that you oppose the SAVE Act: www.lwvme.org/TakeAction.
 
 

How do we avoid one political party taking all the seats in municipal races?

Did you know that most municipal elections in Maine don't reliably deliver proportional representation? For example, the most common multi-winner election method uses ballots that read “Vote for two” or “Vote for three." Unfortunately, this election method can let the largest group of voters win all of the seats, leaving other voters without representation. 

That’s what happened in Hermon, where all seven of their current town councilors are registered Republicans. It’s not because there aren’t any Democratic voters, which make up about 40% of the voting population. This problem also happened in the 2021 Portland Charter Commission race, but in reverse, with progressive candidates taking all the seats. The problem is the election method. So how do we fix it?

Our Proportional Ranked Choice Voting (pRCV) Study Guide dives into these issues and more. Learn more at: www.lwvme.org/pRCV