Democracy Forum 4/17/20: Voting in a Pandemic: The Upcoming Primary Election in Maine

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine

Prerecorded April 15, 2020 using ZOOM meeting technology hosted by LWVME

We will talk about how the continuing COVID-19 emergency might change voting procedures in Maine’s upcoming primary election
What steps are being taken to protect the election, election workers, and the voting public.
What voters can do now to prepare

Guests:
Alison Beyea, Executive Director, ACLU Maine
Matthew Dunlap, Maine Secretary of State

To learn more about this topic:

Our View: COVID-19 will change Maine Election Day traditions, Portland Press Herald editorial, April 5, 2020.
A Primary? In a Pandemic?, The Atlantic, March, 2020
Voting in the time of the coronavirus, Sue Halperin, The New Yorker, March, 2020
‘It’s Madness.’ Wisconsin’s Election Amid Coronavirus Sparks Anger, NPR, April, 2020
“The Lessons of the Election of 1918,” New York Times, March, 2020

The all-volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes: Starr Gilmartin, Maggie Harling, Ann Luther, Maryann Ogonowski, Pam Person, Leah Taylor, Linda Washburn

FMI re League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org

About the host:
Ann currently serves as Treasurer of the League of Women Voters of Maine and leads the LWVME Advocacy Team. She served as President of LWVME from 2003 to 2007 and as co-president from 2007-2009. In her work for the League, Ann has worked for greater public understanding of public policy issues and for the League’s priority issues in Clean Elections & Campaign Finance Reform, Voting Rights, Ethics in Government, Ranked Choice Voting, and Repeal of Term Limits. Representing LWVME at Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, she served that coalition as co-president from 2006 to 2011. She remains on the board of MCCE and serves as Treasurer. She is active in the LWV-Downeast and hosts their monthly radio show, The Democracy Forum, on WERU FM Community Radio -which started out in 2004 as an recurring special, and became a regular monthly program in 2012. She was the 2013 recipient of the Baldwin Award from the ACLU of Maine for her work on voting rights and elections. She joined the League in 1998 when she retired as Senior Vice President at SEI Investments. Ann was a founder of the MDI Restorative Justice Program, 1999 – 2000, and served on its Executive Board.