Latest news with #AnnaKellar
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Maine organizations join coalition of nonprofits suing for AmeriCorps funding
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways There are more than 200 AmeriCorps volunteers in Maine. (AmeriCorps photo) Three Maine organizations joined a nationwide coalition of nonprofits that sued the Trump administration in federal court Monday after being stripped of grant funding. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Maryland, seeks to block the administration's attempt to dismantle the AmeriCorps program without congressional authorization. In late April, the national service and volunteerism agency canceled nearly $400 million in grant program funding. The unexpected move is likely to shutter hundreds of programs across the country and end the work of more than 30,000 volunteers, according to America's Service Commissions. Democracy Maine — which is a collaboration between the League of Women Voters of Maine Education Fund, Maine Citizens for Clean Elections and Maine Students Vote — was awarded a one-year AmeriCorps planning grant to develop civic education programs in rural counties that it will no longer receive under those cuts, according to a news release from the organization. 'The federal government flat-out cancelling grant money we were expecting to receive is not only illegal, but also directly hurts Mainers and our communities where we provide services,' said Anna Kellar, executive director of Democracy Maine. Kellar said they are urging the court to 'reverse this policy and release the already-granted funding so we can continue to do the civic education work that is so central to our mission.' The lawsuit was filed by community organizations from across the U.S. along with individual youth plaintiffs who participate in AmeriCorps and the AmeriCorps Employees Union, AFSCME Local 2027. It is brought against AmeriCorps and its interim agency head Jennifer Bastress Tahmesebi, as well as Nate Cavanaugh, the agency team lead for the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE. A coalition of state attorneys general, including Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, last week also filed suit against the Trump administration in an effort to block its plan to shutter the domestic volunteer agency. AmeriCorps distributes hundreds of millions of dollars so volunteers in all 50 states can run programs that increase education access, housing support, youth mentorship, elder care and more. According to the Portland Press Herald, there are more than 200 AmeriCorps volunteers in Maine. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Committee rejects clean elections expansion, other proposals to alter election laws
Voters fill voting booths at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. (Photo by Michael G. Seamans/ Maine Morning Star) The Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee voted down several proposals to alter election laws on Monday, including measures that sought to expand the state's clean elections program, eliminate ongoing absentee voter status, and reestablish a component of ranked choice voting tabulations that was done away with last session. The committee does however appear poised to sign off on requiring automatic recounts when there are apparent ties in elections, as currently there are no automatic recounts even in this case, though the final recommendation will be determined once absent members cast their votes in the coming days. These mark the first few committee recommendations for how the state should, or shouldn't, alter its elections laws this session. The bills will now head to the House of Representatives and Senate for floor votes. Other changes being weighed include a total elimination of ranked choice voting, an amendment to explicitly ban noncitizen voting (which is already illegal under the state constitution), and clarifying campaign finance laws. Earlier on Monday, the committee heard testimony on a proposal to require voters to update their signatures every five years and require the registrar from each municipality to review the central voter registration system annually. Several other tweaks to the Maine Clean Elections Act are also being considered this session. Passed by voters, the act was used for the first time in 2000 by candidates for the Maine Senate and House of Representatives. Portland was the first city in Maine to run a clean elections program in 2023, an effort headed by Maine Citizens for Clean Elections. That group's executive director, Anna Kellar, told Maine Morning Star that both expanding the program and increasing annual allocations above the $3 million currently provided are key priorities. In unanimous votes among those present, with Senate Assistant Majority Leader Jill Duson (D-Cumberland) and Rep. Anne Graham (D-North Yarmouth) absent, the committee recommended against the passage of two bills that sought to expand the state's clean elections program. LD 118 would expand the program to candidates running for sheriff and district attorney. Last session, lawmakers passed legislation to allow candidates for district attorney to also participate, but the bill was among those enacted when lawmakers reconvened for the final day of the session that Gov. Janet Mills refused to sign. A separate bill that would expand public financing to those offices as well as to county commissioners is also expected to be considered this session, however the committee's argument against the more narrow measure signals passage of broader expansion appears unlikely. While Rep. Laura Supica (D-Bangor) said she likes the idea of expanding clean elections, she can't support it at this time. 'We don't live in a world with unlimited funds,' Supica said, 'and we're facing some tough budget choices.' The state is expecting a $450 million deficit over the next biennium. Reiterating budget concerns, Rep. Marc Malon (D-Biddeford) also said he does not want to dilute the funding available for the candidates currently under the program. During the public hearing on the proposal, it became clear the state's current clean elections allocation is being drained faster than it is being replenished. Lawmakers similarly rejected LD 454, which would allow candidates for secretary of state and attorney general to participate, but for different reasons — largely because it addresses a hypothetical scenario. Currently, those positions are appointed by the Legislature. Efforts to make those posts subject to popular election have historically failed but another proposal is being considered this session. 'I really support the election by the people of the three constitutional officers, and the statutory office of state auditor, but we're not there yet,' said committee co-chair Sen. Craig Hickman (D-Kennebec), referencing the other legislation. But Hickman argued legislating clean elections policy for positions that are not yet elected would be an overstep. Rep. Benjamin Hymes (R-Waldo) agreed and put it this way: 'This is a little bit of the cart before the horse.' Those present also unanimously opposed LD 718, which seeks to eliminate ongoing absentee voter status and require municipal clerks to issue absentee ballots only to residents of their municipality. Calling the measure a solution looking for a problem, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle argued it would harm seniors and people with disabilities who rely on family members and friends who do not live within the same municipal boundaries to submit their ballots. Hymes, who represents Waldo County, said this change would create substantial problems for his constituents, who are often a part of large families with many older relatives. 'It doesn't make sense in rural Maine whatsoever,' Hymes said of the bill. The final tally of the committee votes on all of the bills considered on Monday will technically not be confirmed until absent members cast their votes, which are due Wednesday. But those late votes could only change the outcome of the committee recommendation for LD 600, which seeks to require automatic recounts when there are apparent ties in elections. Five of the committee members present voted for an amendment that would not offer automatic recounts but instead clarify who has standing to request recounts — any candidate who is not the winner. Six want the move forward with the original proposal. Malon, the bill sponsor, said the amendment would not address the underlying reason for the bill. Under current law, if no candidate requests a recount in an apparent tie, a recount may not happen, Malon told the committee when first presenting the bill earlier this month. 'If there is no recount, the Secretary of State would notify the relevant body that there was a tie and that no one had requested a recount,' Malon said. 'It would be up to that body to decide whether they agree it was a tie and if a special election was necessary.' The legislators who favor the version Malon originally proposed, requiring automatic recounts, argued special elections would cost more than a recount. 'I get that it's making more laws for more laws for more laws and common sense should take place,' Supica said, 'but if there's one thing I'm learning as I get older is that this world does not have a whole lot of common sense this time. I think it's clarity and it seems like just an obvious choice.' The majority of committee members present Monday voted against reestablishing batch elimination to ranked-choice voting tabulations in a 3-7 vote, with Duson, Hickman and Graham absent. When Maine voters initially passed ranked-choice voting in 2016, the law included batch elimination, which allows for the simultaneous elimination of candidates that receive such low vote totals that it would be mathematically impossible for any of them to win. However, the Legislature passed a law last session eliminating the ability to use this practice. At that time, Deputy Secretary of State Julie Flynn testified the elimination was logistically necessary. In the session before last, the 130th, a new batch elimination rule was set for presidential primary elections to not allow the practice when any candidate received more than 100 votes, but it was still always permitted for other offices. Flynn argued it seemed more prudent to eliminate the rule entirely because otherwise the department would have had to develop and maintain two different algorithms leading up the 2024 election cycle. Now with that cycle behind, Rep. David Boyer (R-Poland), the sponsor of the bill this year, said the issue needs to be revisited. 'Batch elimination simplifies the tabulation process while preserving the benefits of ranked-choice voting,' Boyer told the committee when presenting the bill earlier this month. 'It does not affect the way voters cast their ballots or the way candidates run their campaigns. Rather, it offers a more concise method of counting ballots.' Conversely, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said in her testimony opposing the legislation, 'It does not save the state time or money to do batch elimination and we have greater detail about the voters' intentions when we use round-by-round elimination.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Referendum to require voter ID and tighten absentee voting rules qualifies for November ballot
Feb. 19—A proposal to require photo identification from voters at Maine polling places and adopt other voting restrictions has officially qualified for the November ballot. The secretary of state's office announced Wednesday that it certified enough valid signatures to send the question to a statewide referendum. The proposal calls for the state to require a photo ID at the polls or when a voter requests an absentee ballot. The proposal includes a religious exemption for those who object to being photographed. If passed, it also would eliminate ongoing absentee voting, which allows a voter to have an absentee ballot mailed to them automatically for each election cycle, and it would place limits on the use of and number of absentee ballot drop boxes, among other things. Proponents say the initiative would boost election security, while opponents say the changes would suppress participation in Maine elections. Organizers behind the proposal turned in an estimated 171,562 signatures of voters who support the initiative, and the Maine Department of the Secretary of State said it reviewed about half of the signatures that were turned in before determining the petitions exceeded the threshold. The secretary of state's office found 86,904 valid signatures among those it reviewed, for a validity rate of 92.3%, the office said in a news release. That number far exceeds the 67,682 signatures that were required in order to send the question to voters. "We're excited to have officially made the ballot and look forward to a robust campaign over the next nine months on our way to victory in November," said Alex Titcomb, lead petitioner and co-founder and executive director of The Dinner Table, an organization dedicated to conservative causes in Maine. The Legislature has the option of voting to pass citizen initiatives without sending them to a statewide referendum, but the proposal has no chance of passing in that fashion, given that Democrats who have the majority of seats have pushed for increased voter access and opposed voter ID measures in the past. Thirty-six states currently request or require voters to show identification at the polls. Of those, 21 ask for a photo ID while the other 15 also accept non-photo IDs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Maine requires identification when a new voter registers, but it is not required for a registered voter to obtain a ballot. The League of Women Voters of Maine, a nonpartisan organization that encourages active and informed political participation, said in a statement Wednesday that the proposal would be one of the most restrictive voter ID requirements in the country and would cause harm by changing a variety of aspects of current voting law in Maine. "If voters were aware of the full scope of this legislation, they would rush to oppose it," said Anna Kellar, the league's executive director. "These restrictions can and will harm every type of voter. It's disappointing to see Mainers try to impose these barriers on their fellow Mainers' right to vote, when this state is justly proud of its high voter participation rates." Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, has also said she opposes the proposal, in part because of the changes it contains that go beyond simply requiring photo identification at polls. The proposal limits municipalities to having only one secured drop box for absentee ballots, and removes a part of current law that allows towns and cities to install additional drop boxes. It also includes a prohibition on municipalities prepaying the return postage of an absentee ballot and sets up a new requirement for a "bipartisan team of election officials" to collect absentee ballots from drop boxes, as opposed to current law, which gives that responsibility to the municipal clerk or two people designated by the clerk. And it rolls back the deadline to request an absentee ballot from three business days before the election to seven. It also puts in place a process for voters who don't have their IDs at the polls to return to their registrar of voters within four days to present their ID and have their ballot counted. Bellows said that conflicts with the current requirement that municipalities have just two days from the day of an election to certify results. Titcomb acknowledged that the four days for voters to present ID if their ballot is challenged is in conflict with the current time frame for certifying results and said it was an oversight in the bill that could be corrected by the Legislature. He described the additional changes as minor and said they are either connected to the requirement for the photo identification or seek to further strengthen election law. If voters are being asked to include their driver's license number or a copy of their photo identification with their absentee ballot, as the proposal would have them do, then it makes sense that the bipartisan team would be asked to collect the ballots from drop boxes to provide a greater level of security, Titcomb said. "It's strengthening the integrity of the election process and adding a layer of defense," he said. Copy the Story Link
