Whether by perception or fact, a political system that appears to be unfair is corrosive. Corporate money in elections is corrosive. It corrodes citizens’ faith that their vote matters and that they matter. It corrodes individual faith in the power and dignity of self-determination: the power of “we, the people” at the ballot box and at the Legislature. Every citizen in Maine has the right to that same knowledge and trust in our electoral system.

As a Unitarian Universalist, I believe my neighbors have the right to participate in our democracy knowing that the playing field is level and that their vote or their political contribution is equal to every other contribution. When I ask my neighbors and friends to participate in our democratic society, I want to invite them to a fair, clean, transparent and equal process.

One of the joys of voting in Maine is the knowledge of how clean, fair and transparent Maine’s electoral structure is. But the arc toward electoral justice in Maine has more bending to do.

I encourage the Legislature to pass LD 1417.

Sue Ellen Bordwell
Yarmouth