The LWVME state board has adopted the following long-term advocacy priorities: Voting Rights, Clean Elections & Campaign Finance Reform, Election Administration, Ethics & Disclosure, Freedom of Information, and Good Government. The following issues will be taken up if a special opportunity presents itself: Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Climate Change, and Racial Justice.
For the 130th Legislature, 2021 - 2022, we aspire to testify on all bills in our high-priority areas, defending against bills that run counter to our positions or our principles.
How we did in 2021:
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Corporate contribution ban (LD 1417): Signed into law! Prohibits corporations from donating to campaigns, leadership PACs, and caucus PACs. We testified on a number of bills with our partners at Maine Citizens for Clean Elections. For the full money in politics legislative roundup, read more here.
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National Popular Vote (LDs 1330 and 1384): Officially dead. Over the past few years, we’ve had countless conversations with supportive lawmakers and Mainers all over the state who want to ensure that every vote is equal. We'll continue to build momentum around NPV.
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Online voter registration (LD 1126): Signed into law!. This was one of our highest priority bills this session. OVR would allow residents to securely and conveniently register to vote, and update their personal information, over the internet.
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Audits and election transparency (LD 1155): Passed to be enacted in the House, awaiting final passage on the Special Appropriations Table in the Senate. This important measure carries a stiff price tag, but it's so important to do. We expect this bill to be carried over into the second session and hope it will be funded and enacted in 2022.
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Semi-open primaries (LD 231): Passed to be enacted in the House, awaiting final passage on the Special Appropriations Table in the Senate. Unenrolled voters would be permitted to cast one ballot in the primary of their choice. Republicans would not be able to vote in Democratic primaries, and Democrats would not be able to vote in Republican primaries. We expect this bill to be carried over into the second session, funded, and enacted in 2022.
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The Secretary of State's housekeeping bill (LD 1363): Signed into law! This includes a lot of good stuff after the 2020 election, including expanding drop boxes and mandating absentee ballot cure procedures.
Read our post-session legislative roundup
Working together:
Democracy Maine was the founding convener of Mainers for Modern Elections and remains a leader within that coalition. Mainers for Modern Elections is a coalition that is committed to ensuring that our right to vote safely transcends politics and partisanship. We advocate for safe, secure, modern elections. Our coalition is committed to securing equitable access to the ballot for every eligible Maine voter.
This year, the League also testified on several bills on racial justice issues, along with our partners in the Coalition on Racial Equity (CORE). Those bills included:
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Racial Impact Statements (LD 2): Signed into law! A racial impact statement, like a fiscal impact statement, is a tool to aid legislators in detecting unintended and unforeseen disparate impacts of proposed legislation prior to adoption and implementation.
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The Indian Land Claims Settlement Act (LDs 1568 and 1626): We supported both bills, with attention to protecting the voting rights of tribal members. Both of these bills will be carried over into the second session.
