Voters are the strength of a town - or city, or state, or nation. Although it doesn't always feel that way, we voters are what make democracy work. Why else would so much money and energy be packed into trying to influence us to support a certain cause or candidate?
Influencing and defining choices are what it's all about. Voters, in the best of situations, in whatever majority they can effect, have the power to shape the future; to promote ideas and to defeat ideas.
This November 3 Election Day, Paris voters have a set of choices at the state level, as well as a local question of law - a proposed Ordinance for a Recall Election in the Town of Paris, Maine - that will effect how the town of Paris intends itself to be governed. This site will present information - in fact, has already posted at least two articles (1) , (2) - on the proposed ordinance and its implications for Paris.
Paris Voters:
If you are new to town, or have recently registered to vote in the last few weeks or months, take time to check at the town office to be sure your name is on the voter list.
Just filling out a voter registration card is not enough; names need to be transferred to the actual voter list that the ballot clerks work from on Election Day. If you know someone in the above category, urge them make certain their name is on the voter list.
Paris Voters:
You can vote early!
Although it is a critical provision for concerned citizens, the option to vote early is not just for people who will be out of town or who cannot get to the polls, for a variety of reasons, on Election Day.
Voting early can also provide voters more than just the one day to get to the polling place, and increase the chance that voting on a contested topic actually happens, by encouraging voters to "vote right now, before you forget!"
There is a specific procedure for keeping track of absentee ballots, just as there is for regular ballots. Up until the time the absentee and early-voter ballots are processed, the public may ask to see the list of voters who have taken out and returned ballots [Applications and Envelopes as Public Records, Title 21-A M.R.S.A. §764 and Procedure for Issuing Absentee Ballots, Title 21-A M.R.S.A. §753-B]. Editor's note: Busy clerks will need a little extra time to facilitate such a request.
No matter how our votes are cast, it is the voting process, itself, that matters. It is the voters who are intended to make the choices. We expect that, and we must always insist on that.
