Action 158 November ‘25 voting
Background: Now that the “dog days of summer” (1) are officially over and the campaign season is just beginning, we defenders of democracy have our work cut out for us for the next two months!
November 4, 2025 is the date for municipal general elections and the state referendum vote. Registration deadline by mail is Tuesday October 14. In-person, the deadline is on voting day, but it’s best to register beforehand, and also to check to be sure you are still registered. Online registration is here: https://registertovote.sos.maine.gov.
Up for our vote on Nov. 4 is Referendum Question 1, which MUST be defeated. It’s clearly designed as a voter suppression measure. The Question is titled “An Act to Require an Individual to Present Photographic Identification for the Purpose of Voting” but this title is highly misleading, as this is not by any means all that the vote entails. The measure will severely curtail absentee voting, which in 2024 was the voting method of choice of 40% of Mainers, including 60% of Seniors. Question 1 particularly disenfranchises people with disabilities, rural voters, seniors, and working people. Among its provisions: it prevents you from ordering your ballot by phone, or having your family member or caregiver pick one up for you.
The actual language on the referendum question reads "Do you want to change Maine election laws to eliminate two days of absentee voting, prohibit requests for absentee ballots by phone or family members, end ongoing absentee voter status for seniors and people with disabilities, ban prepaid postage on absentee ballot return envelopes, limit the number of drop boxes, require voters to show certain photo ID before voting, and make other changes to our elections?" Several of those “other changes” are highly problematic. Download and read the complete language here:| Legislation (Word) The whole bit about requiring a photo ID is a sneaky and underhanded red herring (2). There is an infinitesimal amount of voter fraud in Maine, never remotely enough to change election outcomes (3). The proponents are cynically using the requirement for a photo ID as a sanitizing cover-up to make voting harder for anyone who might tend to vote for a Democrat. We shouldn’t fall for this ruse, nor let our friends and neighbors fall for it.
Also up for our vote on Nov. 4 are MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS. You can have a huge impact here! For many years the right wingers have recognized the power in motivating the grass roots. We defenders of democracy must do the same. No longer can we take for granted that the nation will be governed responsibly without any effort on our part. We have to get out of our comfort zone and recruit, or volunteer ourselves, for local office.
Actions:
You can help defeat Question 1 by:
· phone banking with the Maine Democratic Party. https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/826596/
· joining or organizing a door-to-door canvassing effort
https://www.mainedems.org/protectabsentee or
https://maineaflcio.org/news/join-actions-oppose-question-1-referendum-restricting-absentee-voting
You can help recruit people for local office! Focus on town elections. For instance, Ellsworth has two school board seats and three city council seats up (perennial and deeply unqualified candidate John Linnehan has apparently taken out papers). Find out what is coming up in YOUR town and recruit a good candidate!
Urgency: Make a plan of what you are going to do, and start implementing it right after Labor Day.
Extra Credit:
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_days
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring
(3) https://www.maine.gov/sos/news/secretary-state-condemns-false-allegations-voter-fraud
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/debunking-voter-fraud-myth
