Maine Beacon -In
what has become a distressingly perennial event, Lewiston’s
conservative political establishment is once again in the news for using
its resources to confuse, intimidate, and suppress young and new
voters.
Last week, over 200 recently registered voters in
Lewiston, roughly a third of whom are students at Bates College,
received an official letter from Lewiston Mayor Shane Bouchard
“thanking” those voters for being part of Lewiston’s civic community
before warning those individuals that registering to vote qualifies as a
declaration of residency in the state of Maine, triggering a series of
financial hooks that include requirements to obtain a Maine driver’s
license and registering any vehicles within the state.
Student
groups at Bates, representing a constituency that votes consistently for
Democratic candidates, said the letter reminded them of past attempts
to directly intimidate student voters at Bates from participating in
local elections–efforts that have occurred with regular frequency over
the past several years.
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