Main Street

In New England, Attempt to Suppress the Youth Vote Backfires

Voter suppression is a nasty virus that is sweeping the nation. Those who are aggressively pushing this agenda want desperately to stop students from voting. The rumblings are beginning to be heard in Maine. From Talking Points Memo:

The Chairman of Maine’s Republican party has doubled down on his crusade against the apparently widespread problem of voter fraud-committing college students, declaring this week that if students want to vote they should be paying taxes.

“I get tired of talking about this because the law is clear,” Charles Webster said. “If I want to vote, I need to establish residency. I need to register my car and pay taxes in that community. You can’t just become a student and vote wherever you want.”

Back in July, Webster made a list of 200 college students whom he claimed are committing voter fraud because they pay out-of-state tuition rates but are registered to vote in the state.

A list? Where would he even get that kind of information? TPM wrote about it in July:

At a press conference at the Maine State House, Webster gave the media a list of over 200 students — their names redacted — who paid out-of-state tuition rates but were registered to vote in the state.

But

One problem. The University of Maine only allows individuals who previously lived in Maine — those who aren’t just living into the state to attend school — to pay a discounted in-state tuition rate.

And Webster provided absolutely zero evidence that the students — the vast majority of whom were born in the late 80s and early 90s, based on Webster’s list — voted both in their home state and in Maine.

So, the Maine GOP Chairman has made a list, with apparently actual proof, of students who are allegedly voting in both their home state and in Maine.

So far the only case of this happening seems to be this one. From the New Hampshire Union Leader:

The son of House Speaker William O’Brien voted in Maine elections and ran for state office in Maine while a student at Bates College in Lewiston, according to a report in a Maine newspaper.

Yes, that’s the son of Speaker of the NH House, William O’Brien. The same O’Brien who had this to say:

‘Foolish’ college kids ‘just vote their feelings,’ New Hampshire speaker says, “Voting as a liberal. That’s what kids do,” he added, his comments taped by a state Democratic Party staffer and posted on YouTube. Students lack “life experience,” and “they just vote their feelings.”

Back to the Union Leader story:

According to election results on maine.gov, Brendan O’Brien was nominated by the Republican Party in June 2010 to run for a state representative seat in a district that represents Lewiston, where he was attending Bates College. He withdrew his nomination in July 2010.

Then, in November 2010, he returned to New Hampshire to vote in his hometown, Mont Vernon, the Sun Journal reported. He ended up with dual registration when New Hampshire elections officials didn’t notify Maine officials that he’d voted in another state, the report said.

Another little piece of this puzzle can be found here, in the Mont Vernon town website, listing the names of the Supervisors of the Checklist. Brendan O’Brien’s mother is a supervisor of the checklist in Mont Vernon. The supervisors of the checklist are responsible for updating and maintaining the voter lists.

What we know so far is that Charles Webster, Chairman of Maine’s Republican Party is accusing Maine students of voter fraud, in the hopes that he can prevent college students from voting. He made a list, that appears no actual proof behind it. The only case of a student voting in two states that can be proven is that of Brendan O’Brien, the son of the New Hampshire Speaker of the House, who also wanted to keep college students from voting.

Irony sticks her head in the oven once again.