Opponents' claims of preserving the integrity of the ballot box are equally specious. Summers himself has praised the state's computerized voter-registration system, which can flag any attempt to sign up in more than one municipality. Even before that system was in place, fraudulent voters were so rare, only two cases were prosecuted in all the time same-day registration has been legal. As for complaints that out-of-state college students register here while also voting in their hometowns, eliminating registration on election day does nothing to prevent that.
If both sides dropped the weasel words, we could have a debate about the real issue, which is that Democrats think last-minute sign-ups help their candidates, and Republicans are convinced late registrants are generally opposed to the GOP.
All this blather is really about partisan self-interest. Simple as that.
That's why the Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bill to do away with last-minute registrations and why an array of liberal groups is launching a People's Veto campaign to prevent that law from taking effect.
I can only hope the upcoming campaign is filled with mud-slinging, outrageous allegations, gratuitous insults, and photos of obscure body parts.
Those honest actions and reactions are our only defense against high-minded weasels.
Help me ferret out the facts by e-mailing aldiamon@herniahill.net.
Topics:
Talking Politics
, Politics, Maine, elections, More 
, Politics, Maine, elections, Voting, Polls, government, voters, Less 
