September 30, 2020

Alliance for Retired Americans Will File Emergency Appeal in Voting Rights Lawsuit to the Maine State Supreme Court

Statement of Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans:

“We are disappointed that the Court did not waive the provisions of Maine’s voting laws that are particularly burdensome for older people who are trying to cast their ballots during a pandemic.

“The Alliance for Retired Americans is committed to protecting the rights of all older Americans to vote, and will be filing an Emergency Appeal to the Maine State Supreme Court this week.

“We are asking the Supreme Court to mandate that:

• Voters be notified and given an opportunity to cure their ballots if they are rejected due to a technical defect or a signature mis-match; and
• ballots postmarked by Election Day, but not yet received by a Supervisor of Elections, are counted.

“The Alliance does recognize that the Maine Secretary of State has taken two steps toward making it easier for seniors to vote in the general election. Providing voters an opportunity to cure ballots with mismatched signatures, missing signatures, and incomplete affidavit information by 8 PM on Election Day is positive, but falls short of requiring local elected officials to notify voters if there is a problem.

“We also appreciate that the state will pay for a ballot drop box for any town which requests one. These drop boxes give voters who choose to vote absentee another option to deliver their ballot.  Already, 70 requests for drop boxes have been made.”

This year the Alliance for Retired Americans, working with its state chapters, has filed lawsuits to protect vote by mail and absentee voters in Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin in addition to Maine.

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Contact: Lisa Cutler, lcutler@retiredamericans.org