The Command Post
2004 US Presidential Election
« So ... Now What? | Main | Maine Republican Nonsense »
November 03, 2004
Maine | Mayflower Hill Stands By Its Story

Mayflower Hill stands by its story.

My source for the story— initially published on Mayflower Hill— was Colby College Republicans President Steven A. Bogden. Mr. Bogden, since I published the story, has tried to deny it, but I have cell phone records, cell phone text messages that he sent to other people, and other independent sources to verify my account.

The story I broke was muddled by BD more than a little bit. I did write that “the Maine State Republicans are preparing to file a lawsuit that would disqualify thousands of votes from college students whose primary residency is out of state.” But that does not mean a law suit will be filed, and I certainly hope that one is not filed. What it does mean is that preparations are being made to file a law suit. As I went on to write, “At the moment, the Maine GOP is trying to determine how to argue that Maine state law, which allows out of state registrants, does not supersede voting laws in other states.” If they feel they cannot make that case, then it is ulikely we will see them in court.

BD’s point about Michaud winning easily in the second district is entirely moot. In the runup to the election, and when I released the story, everyone believed the Michaud/Hamel contest to be a tight one. At the time I learned of the Maine GOP’s efforts to suppress student votes, not a vote had yet been counted.

Whether or not throwing out student ballots in Maine would actually make a difference at this point is irrelevant to the fact that the intention was to impact the 2nd district race. Further, disenfranchising thousands of people is not to be taken lightly, no matter what the margin of victory. This is deplorable behaviour, and it does not surprise me in the least the Maine Republicans, and the Maine College Republicans, would want to deny their part in it.



Posted by Christopher Johnson at November 3, 2004 05:22 PM | TrackBack
Comments

BD’s right and this story is just last minute desperation by Democrats.. I don’t care what Mayflower Hill says.. It could be fake for all I know.. They have no basis to stand on.. You want to believe them? Fine go ahead, I’m not involved and I don’t care either..

Posted by: ViriiK [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 3, 2004 07:25 PM

Oh and a 2nd note.. If you are a college student and are from out of state, you are not allowed to vote in the local elections. You can only vote via absentee in your primary state. I’m a student at BYU-Idaho and I’m currently from Washington, I voted for Bush in Washington State via absentee ballot and for the local elections there as well. It’s voter fraud if they’re able to vote in their home state. Again if the Democrats won there by more than 6,000 votes, this whole ridiculious accusation of Republicans challenging the votes is dumb as it doesn’t affect the winner.

Posted by: ViriiK [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 3, 2004 07:27 PM

My only comment to this is that this is pretty typical behavior. Republican efforts to see that election law is followed (real or alleged) are branded as disenfranchisement and then vilified.

Maine law isn’t totally clear on this matter. I will grant that. Look here if you’re interested.

Okay, so I do have more to say that one comment. I’ll add that as a Maine resident, I don’t particularly want non-residents, with little understanding of local issues and little interest in them, deciding who will represent me. Nor do I want them to have a say in state or local law, such as the two referendum questions on this year’s state ballot. One of them was a property tax question, and who among you would want an out of state college student (who is nearly certain to leave your state after graduation, per the statistics) having a say in the taxes you pay?

I went to college in Maryland and voted by absentee ballot in Maine while I was there. It never crossed my mind to vote on candidates and issues in a place that is not my home. That’s just common sense. The people of a given place, who make their homes there and who pay taxes there, should be the ones who decide things in that place, and nobody else. College students who go to school out of state have homes, where they spent 18 years of their lives and where elections will affect their lives when they return. It seems to me they would want to vote in those places, on the issues that will impact them the most personally after the votes are tallied.

Posted by: BD [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 3, 2004 09:04 PM

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (Click here should you choose to sign out.)

As you post your comment, please mind our simple comment policy: we welcome all perspectives, but require that comments be both civil and respectful. We also ask that you avoid the extensive use of profanity, racist terms (neither of which we consider civil or respectful), and other boorish language.

We reserve the right to delete any comment, and to prohibit you from commenting on this site, if we feel you have broached this policy. As a courtesy, we will first send you an email noting a violation so you understand the boundaries. This will occur only once, however, and should we ban you from our comment forums we expect that ban to be permanent.

We also will frown upon those who suggest that we ban other individuals for voicing unpopular opinions, should those opinions be voiced in a civil and respectful manner. The point of our comment threads is to provide a forum for spirited though civil and respectful discourse … it is not to provide a forum in which everyone will agree with your point of view.

If you can live by these rules, welcome aboard. If not, then we’re sorry it didn’t work out, and thanks for visiting The Command Post.


Remember me?

(You may use HTML tags for style)