Get out the Vote - Maine - 2023

There are 8 measures on the ballot here in Maine this year. All of them are worth considering, as they will have lasting consequences.

On the Ballot in Maine on Tuesday, Nov. 7th, 2023

As usual with initiatives on the ballot, at least in Maine, the questions are often poorly worded and can create confusion. In Example......  Three of them, questions #1, #2 and #3 directly relate to the same issue. But they are not clearly connected. If ever there was a time to closely scrutinize ballot questions in Maine, it is in this election.

 The controversial and over publicized Question 3, regarding public ownership of our power Grid rather than the foreign private ownership we have now, is the Question most of us have been exposed to. The campaign to defeat it has overshadowed the connection to questions #1 and #2.

Sadly, many Mainers will not draw the direct connection between the first 3 questions. In order to complete the break the lock on our power grid by private interests in foreign lands, all 3 questions should be dealt with. Question #1 deals with a specific one time action by the state. Questions #2 and #3 will have long term benefite to Maine controlling the influence outside forces can have on our state. 

• Question 1 - Require voter approval for certain state entities, municipal electric districts, electrification cooperatives, or consumer-owned transmission utilities to incur an outstanding debt that exceeds $1 billion. 

• Question 2 - Prohibit election spending by foreign governments, including entities with partial (5% or more) foreign government ownership or control.

• Question 3 - Create the Pine Tree Power Company, an electric transmission and distribution utility governed by an elected board.

So, if you are a Maine resident and want less foreign influence on your lives:

Vote No on Question 1 and Yes on Questions 2 & 3

Moving on now:

• Question 4 - Allow motor vehicle owners and independent repair facilities to have access to the vehicle on-board diagnostic systems.

I am voting YES on Question 4. Again, a question that deals with outsiders attempting to dictate what we can do with our own property. 

• Question 7 - Remove the requirement that an initiative petition signature gatherer must be a resident and registered voter of Maine.

I am voting NO on Question 7. I think the current set up is how it should be. If the question passes, we'll be giving more of our local power away to outsiders.

We do not usually have so many ballot initiatives on a ballot. And it is very odd there are no money related bond initiatives. Of the rest, two are State Constitution changes, and a change in the judicial review process.

And finally- 

• Questions #6 and #8 clean up some clutter in the state constitution.
• Question #5  - some adjusting to some judicial procedure.

All told, the results will have tangible long term effects on my state.

These kind of votes are often more important than who we elect to lead us. These kind of votes create the rules by which our leaders lead.

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I stumbled across this James Brown tune, "Funky President" while searching for an appropriate tune for this post. I think this song is as close to appropriate as I can get. Enjoy it turned up to WOW ...... And I defy you to not tap your feet when you listen to it. 

I first saw James Brown at Walt Whitman High School for 50 cents when I was in Ninth grade. It was the first concert I ever went to.