Maine has some of the most inclusive and protective voting laws in the country. We should feel proud that Maine, more often than not, welcomes and encourages our people to vote. This is the bedrock of a functioning democracy. Unfortunately, two dozen states, including, most glaringly, Georgia, are doing exactly the opposite: passing voter suppression and restriction laws, making it harder and harder for people to vote. We should be celebrating and strengthening our democracy, not stifling and threatening it.

In this context, I would like to voice my ardent support for the Washington D.C. statehood bill. There are more people in D. C. than in either Wyoming or Vermont, and yet they have no voting power in Congress — no voting senators and no voting representatives in the House. This is egregiously undemocratic. An overwhelming majority of D. C. residents have voted in a referendum in favor of statehood. Both of Maine’s representatives, Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, support the D. C. Statehood bill. It is time for us to encourage both of our senators, Angus King and Susan Collins, to do the same. On this, the 200th anniversary of Maine’s statehood, Mainers should support D. C. residents’ efforts to gain the same dignity and equal voting rights that we have long enjoyed.

Alan Blum,
Harpswell