Instead of a box of chocolates on Valentine’s Day, I got my love from the universe by starting my new, sweet-ass job as Portland Community Organizer for The League of Young Voters. But before I was hired I was asked to join the League at the statehouse for a joint committee hearing on a bill called LD 203.
The League organized the day so that college students from all over the state could testify in opposition to the bill. LD 203 directly affects those of us living in USM dorms as well as anyone living in dorms throughout the state by taking away our Maine voting rights. Supporters claim the bill doesn’t change anything, it simply highlights an existing law. What do you think? Highlight or contradiction?
The original law:
This subsection may not be construed to prevent a student at any institution of learning from qualifying as a voter in the municipality where the student resides while attending that institution.
And it’s “highlighted” by:
A student is not a resident of a municipality where the student resides if the student lives in housing owned by an institution of learning while attending the institution unless the student lived in that municipality prior to attending the institution.
To me that’s a complete contradiction.
Supporters accused unnamed students of voting twice and committing other measures of voter fraud but failed to provide any evidence of these federal offenses. Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, who opposes the bill, said, “We have not witnessed the type of problems this bill looks to solve.”
The bill disenfranchises the student vote by way of discrimination. The bill is unjust and illegal.
On the day of the hearing students from all across the state arrived in the capital before the commencement. LD 203 was scheduled to be heard last and the college students anxiously waited in the hallway. We were shaking the hands of legislators when I overheard a Republican representative from the joint committee tell a Bates student, “You, sir, look like a Democrat.” The student asked, “What does a Democrat look like, sir?”
Like in any waiting area with a crowd of people whose job it is to talk, the volume obviously rose. Soon after, a woman wearing a nametag lightly wrapped her fingers around my arm and said, “No laughing.”
My eyes must have begged, “Are you kidding?” because she continued, “No.seriously.no laughing!”
I wanted to tell her, “It’s the people’s house and I’d laugh in it if I wished,” but instead peacefully refrained and apologized. Thing is, there were plenty of people in the hallway but I watched her exclusively ask students to quiet down.
It was after 3 p.m. when we were permitted to enter the small, stuffy room. Representative Gary Knight from Livermore Falls introduced the bill, saying, “If students want to vote here, that is great but they should register their cars here and pay taxes here.” Knight insisted students from “away” do not have a “vested interest” in our communities. But, you, the out-of-state student, are helping to fuel our local economy by spending your limited funds at our independent shops. You are invested in our cities and towns because you volunteer at local non-profits, high-schools, nursing homes and rescue teams.
So why are elected officials in Maine trying to keep you from casting your votes where you live? Is it because nationwide in 2006, 18-29 year olds voted Democratic by almost a 2 to 1 ratio, according to Music for America? A former senator who represented Gorham seems to think so. She claimed to have lost over 800 votes due to those of you who cast your votes in the town where you live. A senator on the hearing committee asked her if she had any way of knowing how students voted. She admitted she didn’t but was sure “over 80% voted Democrat.” To me, her answer “highlighted” the intention of this bill.
At one point during the hearing a student stepped toward the podium to testify and a woman in opposition to the bill stepped in front of her saying she was going to “pull the mother card.” Apparently, because she was a mother, she felt she had the authority to speak before any student could.
The most eye-opening part of the day was that, even though the bill was about students, we were the very last to be heard.
Our elected officials say they want us involved but, as this day demonstrates, the execution of this does not always support that claim. The way we were treated, from being labeled and disciplined in the hallway to literally being placed last on the agenda, sends the message that our voices are not valued. So does the legislation itself. There must be space for fresh voices to weigh in on issues affecting us all.
Tina Smith
Student