State to students: Register your car in Maine or don’t vote here

[Maine-ah]

Source: BDN/Sun Journal

Secretary of State Charles Summers has sent a letter to about 200 of the Maine university students cleared in a recent voter fraud investigation, advising them to either get a Maine driver’s license and register their vehicles in Maine or relinquish their right to vote here.

The one-page letter cites Maine election law, which requires that voters be Maine residents, and state motor vehicle laws, which require that new residents who drive get a Maine driver’s licence and register their vehicles here. In the letter, Summers requests that students “take appropriate action to comply with our motor vehicle laws within the next 30 days.” If students decide they aren’t residents after all, he asks them to fill out the enclosed form to cancel their Maine voter registration.

Summers said he sent the letters because he’s responsible for both election and motor vehicle laws as secretary of state, and he felt he had to follow-up on the approximately 200 people who said they lived here but who were not listed in the state’s motor vehicle database.

“I’m made aware that there are people who may not be in compliance like everybody else in the state of Maine — that’s why I sent it out,” he said.

Read more: http://bangordailynews.com/2011/10/04/politics/state-to-students-register-your-car-in-maine-or-dont-vote-here/

---

our own Mr. Iwishihadhairlikerickperry.

[ret5hd]

1. Where is the evidence these 200 voters HAVE a motor vehicle?

[Maine-ah]

3. none that's been announced...

if you haven't read any of the previous stories...You should read the links at the bottom of the page. Some of this story is a total hoot. Charlie Webster,(not to be confused with Charlie Summers who is our sec. of state) who is the ME Republican party chairman was the one who got this little beehive going. It's turned off the handful of republicans that I know. They've shot themselves in the foot with this.

So, he does stuff like this to suppress the vote:

http://bangordailynews.com/2011/07/30/politics/maine-gop-leader-says-umf-college-republicans-parked-vans-on-election-day/

(snip)
“Guess what happened in 2010?” Webster said. “The buses didn’t run on Election Day because we had the College Republicans reserve them early and on Election Day we took them over and parked them in the Walmart parking lot.”

Webster said using the vans to take voters to the polls should be illegal. He believes that at a minimum, the practice its unethical.

“So we parked them for the day in the parking lot and we continued to drive people to the polls in our private-citizen cars and vans, but we didn’t use taxpayer resources,” Webster said. “We just reserved them early enough, before they got to them.”

University officials confirmed that the College Republicans at UMF reserved three of the college’s five vans available for use by student organizations. But there were no complai

[rfranklin]

6. they should protest to be given a car if they don't have one...

Everyone should get a free car! It's the Free Car Movement! Hooray!

[nykym]

7. SOunds like a

Mandate to me!

[asjr]

9. Ah, yes, The Divine Right of Republicans.

[valerief]

10. Ha! Like that matters. It another barrier. And poll tax!!!! nt

[LiberalFighter]

2. They need to sue the State Republican Chair for privacy violations.

[FailureToCommunicate]

4. 'You can't vote here from there' - Summers

[Blue_Tires]

5. wow...no words...

:grr:

[groundloop]

8. Hell of a coincidence - EVERY time I read about voter suppression it just happens to be Publicans...

In Georgia we have new voter photo ID laws. I'm sure it's purely by chance that the vast majority of the people affected by all these attempts at voter suppression just happen to lean Left.

[FreeBillClinton]

11. Poll Tax (how much is a car registration?)

[EC]

12. Most states have codicils that cover

this. Allowing students and temp residents to keep the licenses they have. Like with military people living on base.

[dbackjon]

18. Arizona required OOS full-time students to get an Arizona licence

Didn't have to register car in Arizona, but needed AZ licence. Which makes sense, since an OOS fulltime student spends more time in the college state than home.

[Botany]

13. you have the right to vote where you live and it does not ...

.... matter if you do or do not own a car. As long as you have lived in a certain area long enough
you have the right to register and vote and that vote should be counted.

This will be struck down by almost any court because it is against state law and the Constitution.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

16. Agreed. And if one drives or posses a vehicle...

.... based on out-dated license and registration, that person is subject to ticket(s).... AND THAT'S ALL!! Not having their voting rights negated.

What a fucking bunch of sophomoric convoluted bullshit all in the name of voter suppression.

[dbackjon]

19. Agree on car registration. But if you want to vote in a state, get a license in that state

[Bill McBlueState]

28. why?

I vote in Ohio, but I still have my Massachusetts license. I am probably supposed to have gotten an Ohio license by now, but my right to vote doesn't depend on that.

[dbackjon]

30. Voting in a state to me signifies that you are a resident of that state

As such, you should have a license for THAT state. Most states require that.



There is a legitimate interest in making sure only residents vote in a particular locale. I am sure you would not want a bunch of out of staters voting in your election.


A new driver's license should be one of the first things you get when you move.

[No Elephants]

32. Residency means you live in that state, no other, and intend to stay for an unspecified time.

Driver's license is not a criterion.

Some people procrastinate.

Some people don't drive at all (like me--vision issues).

[No Elephants]

33. Come back to Massachusetts!

[FarCenter]

24. You have a right to vote in the place where you are a resident

States have specific laws covering "residency" for the purposes of voting, paying taxes, etc.

This applies to moving in-state as well as between states, and to living part-time in one place versus another.

Lots of people besides students live part-time in multiple places.

OK -- I agree that the US has too many legislatures, too many laws and too many lawyers. But that's reality.

[Botany]

25. old saying

you vote where you sleep .... students are sleeping where their school is.

As long as you have been in a given area long enough to be a legal voter than
you should be able to vote ..... end of story.

[FarCenter]

29. In New Jersey, you have to be a resident for 30 days prior to the election

The deadline for registering to vote is 21 days prior to the election.

If you become a resident of New Jersey, you have 60 days to turn in your out-of-state drivers license for a New Jersey license. http://www.nj.gov/counties/mercer/officials/clerk/pdf/updated_voter_reg_form.pdf
http://www.state.nj.us/mvc/Licenses/Replacing.htm

[No Elephants]

34. You have sixty days, but probably no one notices if you take longer.

[mainer]

14. Fine. Then make it apply to ALL VOTERS.

Nobody can vote without showing their vehicle registration. Just watch and see how much howling there'll be.

[Odin2005]

15. Poll Tax, ILLEGAL!

[SoapBox]

17. Ditto. Exactly what I thought.

AND...apply that "get a car" to ALL residents.

This is totally illegal.

[Fresh_Start]

20. Is he granting them in-state tuition breaks? nt

nt

[uppityperson]

21. seems like you can "belong" to only 1 state at a time, which makes sense.

Get state benefits in 1 state at a time, register for everything in 1 state at a time since that is where you are a resident.

However, if someone is a resident of 1 state, and hasn't changed their drivers lic or car lic over, they need a fine for that, not withholding voting rights. That is an entirely different thing.

[No Elephants]

22. Constitution of the United States

[Gormy Cuss]

23. Is Pruneface's department in charge of motor vehicle registrations?

It is true that states have short timelines for registering cars in state once you've declared residency, but we all know that what's happening here is intimidation.

[Politicalboi]

26. So the government can't make you pay for

Health care, but they can make you buy a car or license to vote. What if you don't even drive? POS Repukes, they make me sick.

[Downwinder]

27. I'm two blocks from the polls. I'll vote absentee.

No picture ID and, I get a paper ballot and support USPS.

[KamaAina]

31. And if they don't drive?

Some college students don't drive. Even in Maine, FSM help them. :scared:

[Old Troop]

35. Could that be considered a poll tax?