Election Day - 2011

It is election day. Not one of the important election days they try to tell me. We are not "electing" anyone other than some local yokel positions. The state wide part of the election are four questions. The first one is a referendum on a change in election law passed by the Republican majority earlier this year. Two are regarding the establishment of more casino type operations in a few locations in the state. The fourth question deals with the schedule of redistricting of our two Congressional Districts. Apparently the elected officials can change the map but they cannot change the schedule without voter approval. Seems kind of bass ackwards to me. But then most laws seem that way to me.

I am ambivalent about gambling. If people want to gamble, go for it. I just think it is a stupid activity that produces nothing but often shifts money from pockets not very deep into pockets already so deep they have no bottom. At least it is in your face money changing and not sneaky bullshit like what goes down with Wall Street type money changing.

The voting question is the one I am interested in. Seems the Republican majority in Maine's capital decided to jump on board with the national GOP and they jammed some election reform down our throats. Whining that the same day registration Maine has had for at least 4 decades was open to be taken advantage of by voter fraud. Even after the local GOP tried to dig up fraud from our past, they could only find two cases in 38 years. Of course this was enough to raise a major alarm and the result was they changed the law to force any unregistered Mainers to register at least two days before election.

Sound familiar? Of course it does. It is one of the many policies being fed through the national GOP system to their underlings at the local levels. The stated reasons are up for debate as I am convinced it is just another way to limit the vote. Republicans always do better when the turnout is lower. To support my contention, the money flowing in to defeat this recall question is coming from several of the Koch Bros favorite shell PACs.

It was floods of outside money that shot down Gay marriage in Maine. It was outside money that helped our current idiot governor to be elected. It seems that no one wants to leave us Mainers alone to decide things on our own. I am sure the same thing is happening elsewhere. Wisconsin comes to mind. Ohio, jeez, the deep pockets have their fingers in every state election. And we allow it to happen.

Whatever the result of this "not so important" election, Maine will deserve what it gets. If for no other reason than we were not paying attention.........or we were. Wonder what the turnout will be?

Later........................