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Voting Rights Now
Voting Rights Now
Imagine you are a legal immigrant to Portland. Perhaps you came here from Somalia or the Sudan. Perhaps you are a refugee from a country that is in political and economic turmoil. You live in Portland. You pay taxes in Portland. Your children go to Portland schools. You are doing everything “right”—you are complying with local, state and federal laws regarding residency and taxes.
Yet but you have no say in basic city services. You have no say in how your tax money is spent. You have no say in how the public schools educate your children. This is taxation without representation. The United States was founded on the opposition to this very notion.
Crime and other social justice issues often unfairly affect legal immigrants; yet these residents have no official say in how our community is policed or how our tax dollars are spent. By letting all legal residents vote in local elections, they will have an official way to let their voices be heard on issues that affect them.
With your support, Portland has the chance to remedy this problem at the local level. While our state constitution requires that you be a citizen to vote for state and federal offices, Maine is a home rule state, meaning that municipalities have the power to make many decisions on their own. The City of Portland can decide to let legal residents vote on local issues and races.
The League of Young Voters in partnership with Maine Peoples Alliance, the Green Independent Party and the Sudanese and Somali communities in Portland have launched a local initiative campaign with the goal to win legal resident voting rights on the municipal level for immigrants here. If we collect 5,000 signatures by July 14th we can put this issue on the ballot. Currently we have 4,000 signatures. If you want to help please contact will(at)theleague.com.
Move Under Way to Allow Non-Citizens to Vote- http://www.wmtw.com/politics/23773430/detail.html
