Maine Republican Nonsense

Sorry, but I don’t support Chris’ conclusion of what’s going on in Maine. If BD is right and the candidates won there by more than 6,000 votes. There’s no reason for the Republican Party to challenge it. Also if those college students are from out-of-state, they have to vote in their home-state elections for the Presidency and the local elections in their home-state.

I’m currently a student at Brigham Young University-Idaho which is in Rexburg, Idaho. I talked to the election board which is just downtown a few streets from where I lived and they said I cannot vote unless my permanent status was in Idaho. They told me to basically request an absentee ballot from Washington State which is my home-state. So I did and I voted for the President in the election as well as the local elections for example my district US Representative, Washington State Governorship, etc the list goes on.

This is nonsense if the Democrats won by more than 6,000 votes as it will change nothing. Nonetheless, those college students should not be voting in the Maine Elections. It is voter fraud if they had voted for the Presidency regardless of Kerry or Bush in both their home-states via absentee ballots and Maine.

Update: It seems that I was right about the number of votes in Maine. Chris was arguing about 6,000 votes by college students being challenged by Republicans and it still won’t change the fate of the Democrat winners.

Fox News has the results

I’m doing the math for Chris on District 2
District 2: Michael Michaud’s 188,278 votes to Brian Hamel’s 128,834 votes
Subtract 6,000 votes from Michael Michaud’s votes which will make it 182,278 votes. Chances of Michael Michaud losing his spot? 0%

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.

Lawsuit over college voters denied

(Note: The high-level member of the Maine College Republicans I cite below is Dan Schuberth, State Chairman.)

I have contacted a high-level member of the Maine College Republicans, who unequivocally refutes Christopher Johnson’s earlier assertions 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.”

The high-level College Republicans member only learned of this assertion from me, having heard nothing about it before. He stated that to his knowledge, the Maine Republican Party has no plans to challenge college voters “unless they voted illegally.”

He also noted that the Maine College Republicans had helped President Bush carry the youth vote by a 50%-48% margin, and that they are “more than satisfied with how the college vote broke down.”

UPDATE: Mr. Johnson’s numbers don’t add up. He claims that the alleged lawsuit “primarily effects the 6,000 or so students enrolled at Bowdoin, Bates and Colby.” As for its purpose, Johnson says that “suppressing student votes in Waterville was designed to impact the congressional race in the 2nd District.”

As of this posting, the Democratic incumbent, Mike Michaud, leads by nearly 60,000 votes with 97% of precincts reporting. I’m not sure why Johnson would believe that 6,000 votes are worth anyone’s time and money in court.

This is a dead story, folks.

Voter Supression in Maine Confirmed

Mayflower Hill is prepared to verify- with cell phone records, cell phone text message records and independent sources- its scoop about the Maine Republican Party’s efforts to suppress thousands of student votes in the state.

Mayflower Hill learned from a high ranking member of the Maine College Republicans 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.

The basis for the law suit is that out of state students, since they do not declare their primary residency to be in Maine, are ineligible Maine voters under state law.

While there are many out of state students within the Maine State University system- particularly at Orono and Farmington- this primarily effects the 6,000 or so students enrolled at Bowdoin, Bates and Colby- many of whom choose to vote in the Brunswick, Lewiston/Auburn, and Waterville precincts.

The way it was explained to me, the Maine GOP will try and assert that there are laws in certain states- like Minnesota- which prohibit those who make their primary residence in state to register to vote out of state. 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.

The presidential race in Maine isn’t really all that close (Kerry won handily), but suppressing student votes in Waterville was designed to impact the congressional race in the 2nd District.

When the Democrats redrew the district maps last year, they gave Democrat Mike Michaud (who won his first term in 2002 by only 5%) the Waterville area. Many insiders suspect that happened because Dems were worried Michaud was losing the support of rural, socially conservative Mainers who live north of Bangor. Republican challenger Brian Hamel had been running a tight race against Michaud, and his key to victory was believed to be winning Waterville.

Some estimate that around 1000 Colby College students vote in Waterville- many from out of state.

Maine GOP Voter Supression UPDATE

Mayflower Hill is prepared to verify its earlier scoop that the Maine State Republicans are attempting to supress the votes of thousands of college students. Mayflower Hill has CELL PHONE RECORDS and CELL PHONE TEXT MESSAGE RECORDS… AS WELL AS INDEPENDENT SOURCES willing to confirm the story.

This is not a joke! The Maine State Republican Committee has begun to attpempt to supress thousands of student votes within the state of Maine in order to influence the congressional race in the 2nd District. Again, Mayflower Hill has confirmed this story with independent sources. SPREAD THE WORD!!!

NBC calls all 4 EVs for Kerry

NBC has projected John Kerry as the winner in Maine’s 2nd District, giving him all 4 of Maine’s electoral votes.

Maine House incumbents projected winners

WLBZ (Bangor) and WCSH (Portland) are projecting wins for Democrats Tom Allen (1st District) and Mike Michaud (2nd District). The incumbents will be back in Washington for another term.

House contests

Bangor Daily News, with 5% of precincts reporting, shows both of Maine’s incumbents in the House leading by comfortable margins.

In District 1, Tom Allen (D) leads Charles Summers ®, 62%-38%.

In District 2, Mike Michaud (D) leads Brian Hamel ®, 58%-40%. Carl Cooley, the Socialist candidate, has 2% of the vote thus far.

Smooth voting in Portland

My brother in Portland tells me had an extremely easy voting experience just now.

“I went straight to the table, told them my name, got a ballot, and went straight to a free booth.”

It’s somewhat surprising, since the polls close in just a couple of hours, and people are mostly out of work and free to vote now. However, some communities in Maine reported early voting at around 40% of registered voters, so that could be keeping the lines under control at the polls.

Poll confusion

WABI (Bangor):

A Bangor man with confusion over where he was supposed to vote not only forced him to wait in line twice, but also to vote twice, at two different polling places.

Election officials aren’t sure how it happened.

They do say that Phil McFarland was in fact on voter lists at both the Fairmount School and 14th Street School, and he cast ballots at both places.

This guy caught his mistake and fixed it after realizing he was in the wrong place and then going to the other, which is separated from the first by only a playground. But it raises two questions. First, how many other voters are in a similar situation? Second, and more importantly, how many are honest enough to tell someone instead of just voting twice?

GOP Voter Supression UPDATE

UPDATE: The way it was explained to me, the Maine GOP will try and assert that there are laws in certain states- like Minnesota- which prohibit those who make their primary residence in state to register to vote out of state. 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.

UPDATE AGAIN: The presidential race in Maine isn’t really all that close (Kerry should win handily), but suppressing student votes in Waterville may have a huge impact on the congressional election in the 2nd District. When the Democrats redrew the district maps last year, they gave Democrat Mike Michaud the Waterville area. Many insiders suspect that happened because Dems were worried Michaud was losing the support of rural, socially conservative Mainers who live north of Bangor. Republican challenger Brian Hamel has been running a tight race against Michaud, and his key to victory may be winning Waterville.

Some estimate that around 1000 Colby College students vote in Waterville- many from out of state.

More updates at Mayflower Hill.

Inmates vote

WCSH (Portland):

Only two states in the nation allow inmates to vote. Maine is one of them, Vermont is the other.

In Penobscot County, prisoners used the phone to call either their town office or a family member to make sure they got an absentee ballot sent to them.

Corporal Donna Downing of the Sheriff’s Department says only six out of 161 prisoners requested a ballot this year, but since it’s their right to vote, she was happy to help make it happen.

Inmates in the Cumberland County Jail also voted by absentee ballot sent by the clerk of their home town. They were assisted by the jail’s education officer.

Maine State Republicans Prepare to File Lawsuit

Mayflower Hill EXCLUSIVE: Mayflower Hill has learned 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.

The basis for the law suit is that out of state students, since they do not declare their primary residency to be in Maine, are ineligible Maine voters under state law.

While there are many out of state students within the Maine State University system- particularly at Orono and Farmington- this primarily effects the 6,000 or so students enrolled at Bowdoin, Bates and Colby- many of whom choose to vote in the Brunswick, Lewiston/Auburn, and Waterville precincts.

Developing… ONLY AT MAYFLOWER HILL

MoveOn PAC at polling places

There was a MoveOn PAC representative at my polling place today. Inside the polling place. He was sitting at a table across from the check-in table and a few feet away from the ballot box, with a MoveOn PAC placard on the table. I’m not quite sure what he was doing, and he didn’t say a word to anyone while I was there. But it struck me as a little odd that a partisan group can set up a table inside a polling place.

No midday lines in Bangor

I just got back from voting, and after I was done I drove by several other polling places around Bangor. My own voting took five minutes, and at the other polling locations, there was ample parking available and no lines to be seen. People working the polls tell me that lines were longer in the morning and began thinning out around lunch time. The real crowds are likely to come this evening after people get out of work.

Record turnout expected

Portland Press Herald:

Maine’s top election official predicted a record turnout today as presidential stand-ins, congressional candidates and referendum activists made one last push Monday for voters’ support.

More Mainers are likely to cast ballots this year than in the 1992 presidential election - when the record was set, Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky said. That year, 73 percent of Maine’s voting-age population of 929,809 cast ballots. This year, more than 1 million Mainers are old enough to vote.

Maine has been first or second in voter turnout in the last three Presidential elections.

Potential Problem with Maine Exit Polling

Massive amounts of early voting in Maine may potentially distort the accuracy of Tuesday exit polling, harming the ability of news organizations to quickly and accurately project the state’s winner.

In some communities, one-third or more of all registered voters had cast their ballots by the end of Monday.

“We could be almost at 40 percent,” Mooney said Monday afternoon as a line of absentee voters stretched through the City Hall basement. More than 6,000 of South Portland’s 16,824 registered voters had voted with absentee ballots by Monday afternoon.

In Scarborough, about 5,600 of 14,004 registered voters voted by Monday afternoon. “It will be over 40 percent by the end of the day,” said Tody Justice, Scarborough’s town clerk.

In Brunswick, more than 20 percent of the 16,200 registered voters had cast absentee ballots. In Windham, absentee voters started lining up 30 minutes before Town Hall opened Monday. And in Portland, which expects to receive about 9,000 early ballots, hundreds of people stood in line for more than an hour before casting absentee votes at City Hall.

Its also true that similar problems may occur in other states- like Florida- that have expanded early voting programs this year. Stay tuned.

Source: Portland Press Herald.

Maine District 2 Congressional Race

Democratic Incumbent Mike Michaud and Republican challenger Brian Hamel have had a hard fought campaign but it now looks like Michaud will win. Survey USA gives Michaud a double figure lead. To learn more about these two candidates read this account of their first debate.

GOTV on Campus

Here at Colby College the GOTV effort is in a super-excited state. The socialist group League of Pissed Off Voters has taken to writing “Vote Kerry or Die” on people’s doors, sometimes in permanent marker. Someone else has taken to placing “Bush Fear Factor” pamplets on everyone’s door handles. There are numerous groups driving students to the polls (I expect to see both Bush-Cheney and Kerry-Edwards vehicles driving supporters to the polls all day) and according to the town clerk, plus mailroom estimates about absentee ballots projections are that 95% of the eligable campus will be voting in this election.

If this is consistent with other College Campuses in Maine then they will Campus GOTV efforts will have a major effort here in Maine.

Crossposted here

Hand Counting of Ballots

With all the talk of recounts and court challenges it is important to examine how votes are actually counted. Unlike much of the country Maine still relies heavily on handcounts

The Morning Sentinel Reports: Human hands still count paper ballots in 80 percent of Maine communities on election night.

And despite a national movement toward computerized voting machines, Maine officials want to tread lightly when it comes to changing what’s worked.

In the event of a challenge in Maine the heavy reliance on handcounts could prove important.

Crossposted at: Colby and Beyond!

Deer Hunting Season Begins In Maine

Thousands of hunters took to the woods today on the first day of Maine’s month long deer hunting season.

The season, which ends Nov. 27, is expected to draw 170,000 to 180,000 hunters, including 35,000 to 40,000 from out-of-state, said Mark Latti, spokesman for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Biologists are predicting a harvest of about 36,600 deer if normal weather conditions and hunter effort prevail. Hunters last year shot 30,313 deer.

There are conflicting thoughts on how this might effect tomorrow’s vote on the Bear Baiting Ban. Some feel that the fresh enthusiasm for hunting may hurt the referendum’s chances of passing, others think that all of the hunters may be too busy hunting to vote against the referendum. We’ll have to wait and see.

Source: Portland Press Herald.

Activists May Disrupt Maine Elections

Maine Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky has expressed concerns over a recent court ruling that would allow petition activists- particularly the Bear Baiting Ban activists- to show up at polling places and “block” people from entering.

Gwadosky, Maine´s top election official, said a review by the state attorney general concluded that opponents, or “blockers,” could not be legally barred from polling places.

“I don´t think that´s a positive development,” Gwadosky said Monday. “We don´t think it´s a good thing.”

While saying the presence of both sides on as many as five petition campaigns could lead to “chaos,” Gwadosky said he will abide by the attorney general´s interpretation of the law.

Source: Portland Press Herald.

Kittery Town Council Scandal

A scandal has errupted in the Kittery Town Council race now that Former Town Council Chairman Mark J. Sousa has been indicted for using and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, as well as for obstructing justice.

Councilor Richard Balano said he was unaware of Sousa’s previous felony convictions in Massachusetts - one for assault by means of a dangerous weapon in 1977 and another for carrying a dangerous weapon in 1990 - that were detailed in the indictment. Because he is a felon, it is illegal for Sousa to possess a firearm… The charges against Sousa are related to his actions on July 10, 2003, according to the indictment.

On that day, John Dennett of Kittery, who is another former town councilor and a tenant of Sousa’s, told Kittery police that someone shot his motorcycle while it was parked outside his home.

The indictment alleges that Sousa owned a .380-caliber Davis Industries semiautomatic pistol and multiple rounds of ammunition. The charges against him carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail and a $250,000 fine.

Environmental lawyer Matthew Brock is entering the race, due to the scandal, as a write in.

Source: Portland Press Herald

Maine Bear Baiting Ban

This is- without any doubt- the hottest issue right now in Maine. Forget the Presidency- the part of the ballot Mainers are talking about is the Bear Baiting Ban.

Right now, many hunters leave doughnuts in certain locations in the woods to lure bears. Over the year, the bears become conditioned to finding food in these places, and come back repeatedly. When the hunting season begins, the hunters wait for the bears to come to these “Bear Traps” and shoot them.

If the referendum passed, this practice would be illegal. Even the most active proponents of the ban concede, though, that it would be tough to enforce up in The County.

Poll: Kerry leads Bush

WLBZ/Survey USA poll of likely voters:

GEORGE W. BUSH - 44%
JOHN KERRY - 52%
Someone Else - 2%
Undecided - 1%

The poll also found that Kerry leads in both districts, so he stands to win all four of Maine’s electoral votes.

WLBZ does not report the numbers by district, but local reporting leads me to believe that the 2nd District is not a done deal for Kerry. Campaign visits to the 2nd District—Vanessa Kerry in Bangor on Friday, John Edwards in Bangor on Saturday, and Dick Gephardt in Bangor and Waterville today—suggest that the Kerry/Edwards campaign, at least, does not consider the district a lock either. On the Bush side, Andy Card visited Caribou and Waterville on Friday.

Taxes and the Maine State Senate

One of the reasons that the Palesky Tax referendum is such an issue in Maine is because Republicans believe it will bring enough of their voters to the polls to take back the State Senate. The Democrats currently control that body 18-17.

Republicans, seeking to take control of the Senate in one of the most heavily taxed states, are trying to paint Democrats as incompetent for failing to provide relief for taxpayers. “Voters are frustrated by the Democrats’ inaction on lowering the tax burden,” said Dwayne Bickford, chairman of the Maine Republican Party. “And the voters will send a message about that this fall when they send us in as the majority.”

From the Portland Press Herald.

Maine's Local Flavor

There is going to be quite a lot of local flavor on the ballot tomorrow in the state of Maine. Here are some of the highlights:

UNITED STATES HOUSE DISTRICT TWO: Redistricting has changed the dynamic of this race. Waterville, a major city in central Maine (about 20 minutes north of Augusta), and home to yours truly, is now in District 2, which means that its in play in the race between incumbent Mike Michaud (D) and challenger Brian Hamel ®. Michaud is a schizophrenic sort of politician- he voted against the authorization of force in Iraq, the $87 troop appropriations bill, and he is an anti-NAFTA protectionist, but he is also very socially conservative on issues like marriage rights and abortion. Hamel is a free trader who believes it imperative to lower the tax burden on businesses to improve Maine’s economy- which is the focus of his campaign. One of the reasons that the race between Michaud and Hamel is so critical is because Maine splits its electoral votes. If Hamel wins the district and Kerry wins the state, the Senator might not get all the he bargins from from the state of Maine.

PROPERTY TAX CAP: Thats right, we’ve got referendum politics in Maine. The so-called “Palesky tax-cap” reads, “Do you want to limit property taxes to one percent of the assessed value of the property?” Proponents argue that taxes in Maine are out of control, and that plants, mills, and factories are closing and leaving the state as a result. Critics argue that the tax-cap would cut money from other areas of state and local government- like forcing cuts in first responders and snow removal. The voters decide tomorrow.

THE BEAR BAITING BAN(my personal favorite): “Do you want to make it a crime to hunt bears with bait, traps or dogs, except to protect property, public safety, or for research?” Make no mistake, this is the most hotly contested issue in the state of Maine right now. The referendum is sponsored by animal rights groups who (go figure) object to baiting and trapping bears on the grounds that its in humane. Critics of the referedum claim the ban would create a loss of almost 700 jobs, as well as lead to over population problems. Hunters also worry that without the ability to trap bears, they have no way of being sure they aren’t shooting a mother bear or young cub when they hunt.

Thanks to the Echo for doing some of the research.