Protect Maine elections

To the editor,

I hope you will join me in urging our Kennebunk state legislators to support a bill to protect Maine elections that is now before the Maine Legislature. The bill would prohibit foreign governments from spending money in Maine referendum campaigns. Given the widespread, bipartisan support for this issue, the legislature should pass the bill immediately.

In 2021, the Federal Elections Commission announced that it doesn’t have the authority to prohibit foreign government spending in state referendums, exposing 26 states that allow for ballot measure campaigns. Seven states passed legislation to ban the practice following the announcement while ten other states, including Maine, have legislation pending.

You may have noticed in recent years a significant rise in political advertisements in Maine. Most of this money is coming from out-of-state and, now, from outside the country. No matter which side of the issues we stand on, we should be able to debate the pros and cons of a ballot measure without foreign interests trying to influence our vote. After all, we’re the ones who live with the decisions we make in Maine.

Alarm about this issue prompted me to help collect 80,000 fellow citizens’ signatures to successfully place the matter of foreign government spending on the Maine ballot. Eighty-nine percent of Maine voters support the measure and we now have the opportunity for our legislators to pass a bill reflecting the will of the voters.

The bill would:

· Prohibit donations by foreign governments and foreign government-owned entities in referendum campaigns.

· Require disclaimers on ads spending by these foreign entities.

· Reaffirm Maine’s support for an anti-corruption amendment to the U.S. Constitution and call on Maine’s federal delegation to support the amendment.

So let us support our state representatives in helping them to support our democracy.

Anthony Dater

Kennebunk