About 68,000 Mainers signed a petition to reinstate a 38-year-old election policy that has been credited for putting Maine on the map for above-average voter participation.
Earlier this year, “Maine’s new Republican-led House and Senate voted to get rid of same-day registration, and the state’s new Republican governor, Paul LePage, was more than eager to oblige,” the Boston Globe editorialized yesterday.
In response, groups like the League of Women Voters gathered signatures to force a referendum in November. “The secretary of state must certify at least 57,277 signatures in order to place the question on the ballot,” according to an August 9 Boston Herald report.
“Maine has much to be proud of in its voting laws,” the Globe writes. “The state managed to register 60,000 new voters on Election Day in 2010 – and the only claims of voter fraud were specious.”