Want to know what the League is up to this week? Check out these cool opportunities to get involved and make your voice heard! If you’re interested in any of these actions contact YoungVoters207@Gmail.Com
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1) Sign this petition to voice your support for Ranked Choice Voting statewide! Click here to sign.
2) Send a letter to your state representatives to tell them you want to make energy efficiency a priority this year! Click here to send them a letter.
The Maine League of Young Voters strongly supports the citizen-initiated Clean Election Act, and we are proud to work with Maine Citizens for Clean Elections to improve the law.
This week the Legislature will vote on Senator Youngblood’s bill to strengthen Clean Elections, LD 1309. This bill would restore Clean Elections after a court decision overturned part of the law. It’s critical that your senator and representative hear from you now.
Contact your elected officials and tell them that you want a strong Clean Election system, and ask them to support LD 1309.
Maine citizens enacted Clean Elections to help ensure that our government is accountable to voters, not big donors and their lobbyists. LD 1309 will ensure the viability of Clean Elections in legislative and gubernatorial races going forward. That will allow candidates to rely on actual voters – not outside interests – to win and hold elected positions.
Contact your Representative and Senator now!
Take action today! Thank you!
P.S. Check out MCCE’s latest Money in Politics report showing that proponents of GMO labeling have been outspent by opponents 10 to 1 when it comes to political donations. In some states, that could mean certain failure of labeling legislation. In Maine, 70% of the legislature was elected without special interest money, and that should give us a better shot. Call your legislators today to keep Clean Elections strong and viable!
P.S. Find more information about LD 1309, An Act to Strengthen the Maine Clean Election Act here. Please take action today!
Ever wanted to know what it is like to run a non-profit organization in Maine? Check out this job listing from Emerge Maine!
As an Interim-Executive Director, you can get the hand’s on experience you need to see if non-profit leadership is a career path you want to travel down. Applications are available May 1st, more details below!
Remember what a bummer 2010 was when we learned that governors can be elected with 61% of voters casting a ballot for the other guy (or woman!)?
We sure do. That’s why the League pushed for and won the right to use Ranked Choice Voting in Portland for the 2011 Mayoral race. Turns out, RCV was pretty gosh darned easy and resulted in Mayor Brennan’s election with a majority vote. Pretty rad right?
Now we have a chance to take the state of Maine into the 21st Century by passing one of four different Ranked Choice Voting bills that are being debated up at the State House this year.
On Monday, April 22nd, the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee will be hearing a whole host of bills around this superior method of voting that requires a majority vote (51%) to win an election.
Obviously, Governor Lepage has a pretty strong incentive to veto any bill that would ensure his defeat in the 2014 gubernatorial race so the time has come to call on our legislators to raise the alarm and represent us on this issue by supporting just ONE of these four bills:
● LD 1358 “An Act To Ammend The Election Laws To Require A Run-off Election for Governor”
● LD 860 “An Act To Require that the Governor, Senators and Members of the House of Representatives Be Elected by the Ranked-Choice Voting Method”
● LD 518 “An Act To Establish Ranked-choice Voting in the State”
● LD 1219 “An Act to Establish a Run-off Process for the Election of the Governor, United States Sentaor or United States Representative”
These bills ensure that a majority vote elects our officials. Ranked choice voting is the best way to support a strong democracy and ensure that the voices of all voters are heard. Stand up and be counted to avoid another Lepage nightmare. Here are the two things we need you to do before Monday:
1. CALL your legislators now and tell them: Act now to support ranked choice voting!
2. Post this meme to your Facebook and Twitter and encourage your friends to do so too!
In January, Governor Paul LePage released his budget proposal for the fiscal years of 2014 and 2015, which could start July 1st of this year. Budgets are normal. Every city, company, state and any other type of organization that deals with money to function needs one. When released there will always be some opposition to the budget from the people it is affecting.
But here’s the thing: This is a pretty extreme proposal.
By Teddy Burrage
Throughout history, Maine has been known for its independence, setting the bar for many political and social movements. Even the state’s motto Dirigo means “I lead”. Aside from being the state where the sun rises first, Maine was the 1st state to ban billboards, the 1st to establish a Department of Indian Affairs, as well as the 1st to provide laptops to all public school students. The following are 5 ways that Maine has changed the face of America:
Maine was the 1st state to approve same-sex marriage via voter referendum
Previously to 2012, six states had laws that allowed same-sex couples to marry. All of them were passed through legislation; none of them were approved through ballot initiative. In 2012, Maine voters were asked “Do you want to allow the State of Maine to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples?” Election night proved that majority of Mainers voted “Yes” marking the first time when same-sex marriage was approved by the people of a state through the ballot box.
Click the following link to learn more about equality in Maine.
Maine 101 is a 10 week course dedicated to breaking down the barriers between local government and regular folks run by our sister organization, The League of Young Voters Education Fund. It started February 6th, and we couldn’t be more excited. Each week, we’ll bring you a snapshot from both the Portland and Lewiston/Auburn groups. We hope you’ll enjoy the stories of your neighbors connecting with local government.
Name: Brendan Farley
Current City: Buxton, Me
Why did you want to participate in Maine 101? I chose to take part in Portland 101 to find out how our city and towns function as a municipality. Learning how different facets of how a city faces everyday issues is a fascinating process that many of us do not think about on a day to day basis.
What sessions are you most excited about and why? I was most excited about the visit to EcoMaine. I found EcoMaine to be the most interesting because many of us don’t think about where our everyday waste goes and is deposited. With a growing population, waste management will be vital to the health of our environment and our people. Sanitation will be so essential to our growing world, whether it is with clean water, reusable goods, or waste energy production. EcoMaine is providing a great service that trends towards a more sustainable way municipalities can dispose of trash, and in turn gain cheaper electricity.
What have you learned by participating? I have learned that a municipality is a very intricate, detailed machine that is driven by the participation of people who care for it. Officials may get elected, or employees hired, to work for the community, however without the passion of the public nothing worthwhile will get done.
Anything else you’d like to share about the program? I would just urge everybody to become more aware of the great responsibility we all have to support our community, and also to really think about how new laws and legislation, or elected officials affect how we live.
Maine 101 is a 10 week course dedicated to breaking down the barriers between local government and regular folks run by our sister organization, The League of Young Voters Education Fund. It started February 6th, and we couldn’t be more excited. Each week, we’ll bring you a snapshot from both the Portland and Lewiston/Auburn groups. We hope you’ll enjoy the stories of your neighbors connecting with local government.
Name: Megan Guynes
Current City: Lewiston
What have you learned by participating? I have gained a deeper understanding of some of the policies and politics that govern our community. There are many people in positions of authority and varying organizations that make it possible for our city to function as efficiently as possible. It was interesting to discover how all these different people and organizations work together in order to make that happen.
Anything else you’d like to share about the program? It is a valuable experience. One is able to learn and explore the ways in which our cities are run. Not only that, there are so many amazing people we get to meet and converse with. We are able to interact with public officials and the varying individuals who may come to speak, and we also have a unique opportunity to get to know the other members who are participating as well. This is a great outlet to experience diversity and people from so many different walks of life.
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