A piece of proposed legislation regarding voter identification would do little to change the intent of election laws, but to Ruby Sprague of Lyman, being called “independent” instead of “unenrolled” means a lot.
“All these years, I thought I was an independent; that’s what I signed up for,” said Sprague, 73, who is retired. “Then I find out we were no longer.”
The issue came to a head for Sprague last year at the primary election when a clerk told her she was unenrolled, meaning she had not joined any of the political parties.
“She called me an unenrolled and I blew my cool,” she said. “I screamed right out that I had all my freedom at this point taken away.”
So Sprague contacted Sen. Jonathan Courtney (R-Springvale) who in turn sponsored legislation titled, “An Act to Designate Registered Voters Not Enrolled in a Political Party as Independent Voters.”
“Ruby was quite disenfranchised being called an unenrolled voter,” said Courtney, the assistant Senate minority leader. “She asked for this bill and I was glad to do it for her.”
Asked whether he thought the legislation would become law, Courtney said he’s happy to leave it in the hands of the Legal and Veteran’s Affairs Committee, which held a public hearing on it last week.
“I’m sure the committee will make the right decision,” he said.
Julie Flynn, the state’s director of corporations and elections, said she neither supports nor opposes the bill, though she said it might cause confusion in an area that has taken years to clarify.
The use of the word “unenrolled” in reference to Maine voters not enrolled in a party originated in 1975, according to records in the Law and Legislative Reference Library in the State House. According to current statutes – Title 21A, Section 307 – the word “independent” is still used to define candidates not attached to a political party, but not voters.
In the 1980s and 1990s, according to Flynn, there were several efforts to start an Independent Party in Maine with its own platform and identity. Those efforts were unsuccessful and the Legislature later ruled to prohibit the use of “Independent” by itself as a party name because of concerns about voter confusion. In other words, a candidate can list his or her name on a ballot as “independent,” but cannot then form an “Independent Party.”
The Maine Green Independent Party achieved ballot status in 1998 after receiving 6.6 percent of the vote in the 1998 gubernatorial election.
Flynn said she’s seen “independent” used to mean a variety of things in her 20 years working elections.
“We’ve done a lot of work to make sure municipal clerks understand the correct terminology,” said Flynn during an interview. “I’m not sure that a change at this point is going to take care of confusion or cause confusion for people who now understand it.”
Linda Cohen, legislative policy committee chairwoman for the Maine Town and City Clerks’ Association, testified during last week’s hearing, though she didn’t take a position on the bill in question.
“There is currently a great deal of confusion among voters who wish to be independent of a party and who mistakenly check off Green Independent, thinking they have chosen properly,” stated Cohen, according to a copy of her written testimony. “When it comes time to participate in a primary or caucus, they are angry to learn they have chosen the Green Independent Party.”
Cohen suggested that instead of “unenrolled,” that the state use the words “undeclared” or “unaffiliated” because they are not easily confused with Green Independent and might not be offensive to voters.
“We are in favor of anything that helps the voter register the way he or she intended, but we are concerned about creating another problem in the process,” Cohen said.
For Ruby Sprague, the word “independent” makes a totally different statement than “unenrolled” does.
“Being unenrolled means you’re nothing, that you never chose to sign up for anything,” said Sprague, who added that she has never pushed a piece of legislation before. “I’m too old to be fighting this but I’m just so angry I can’t stop. What I really am trying to do is to open people’s eyes to what our government is doing to us.”
(Statehouse News Service)
