FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nov. 8, 2011

PORTLAND – Maine voters today made a stand to protect voting rights and restore same-day voter registration.

“Same-day registration has worked for almost 40 years, helping Maine to be a national leader in voter participation,” said Barbara McDade, the president of the League of Women Voters of Maine and an early leader in the campaign to restore same-day registration. “Mainers take their elections seriously, and today they have rejected attempts to rollback voting rights and erect unnecessary barriers to the ballot.”

The Protect Maine Votes/Yes on 1 coalition is made up of 23 partner organizations and fielded a team of more than 1,000 volunteers to collect signatures for the People’s Veto of a law that eliminated same-day voter registration.

“Mainers stood up for the integrity and security of our elections today,” said Shenna Bellows, the co-chair of the campaign’s steering committee and the executive director of the ACLU of Maine. “We must remain vigilant against any future attacks on voting rights.  Maine voters have sent a clear message: No one should be denied the right to vote.”

Volunteers began collecting signatures in July to place Question 1 on the ballot. They accomplished the task in less than a month, demonstrating broad enthusiasm among Maine voters to restore same-day registration and protect voting rights.

“This campaign could not have succeeded without the dedication and commitment of our coalition partners and the more than 1,000 volunteers who collected signatures, knocked on doors and made phone calls,” said Ben Dudley, co-chair of the campaign steering committee and executive director of EngageMaine. “More than 650 individuals from Maine contributed to the campaign, providing the critical support to fuel an amazing grassroots effort. With this campaign, Mainers have shown that they will fight to make sure every eligible voter can participate.”

“We began the campaign with more than 1,000 volunteers deciding that Maine’s democracy was worth fighting for. It ends tonight with the majority of Mainers agreeing with them,” said Ben Chin, Political Engagement Director at Maine People’s Alliance and Field Director for the Protect Maine Votes campaign. “Today, Maine people were the first in the nation to take a stand against the national campaign to restrict voting rights. They said no to misleading attack ads and said yes to fairness and democracy.”

The Protect Maine Votes includes more than 1,000 volunteers and 23 partner organizations, including: Engage Maine, Maine People’s Alliance, Maine Civil Liberties Union, Maine League of Conservation Voters, League of Women Voters of Maine, Maine League of Young Voters, Opportunity Maine, Maine Equal Justice Partners, EqualityMaine, Maine Women’s Lobby, Maine Education Association, MSEA-SEIU, Speaking Up for Us, Disability Rights Center, Preble Street Resource Center, Homeless Voices for Justice, Maine AFL-CIO, Maine Chapter of the Sierra Club, AARP Maine, Teamsters Local 340, NAACP of Maine, OneMaine and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.

For more information, visit http://www.protectmainevotes.com; on Twitter @ProtectMEVotes.

Paid for by Protect Maine Votes PAC, P.O. Box 18161, Portland, ME 04112.

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