Charles: Action is needed to pandemic-proof our democracy

Originally published April 28, 2020, in the Portland Press Herald. Read it here.

Coronavirus is threatening our democracy.

That’s because this pandemic poses at least three major barriers to voting in Maine. One, citizens can’t easily register to vote with their city halls closed. Two, Mainers risk exposure to the virus if they show up to vote on election day. Three, town clerks will have trouble quickly counting all the ballots with fewer staff and volunteers.

One solution to this challenge would be letting everyone vote through the mail from the safety of their homes. However, in a recent interview with “Maine Calling,” Secretary of State Matt Dunlap suggested we don’t have the infrastructure needed to implement universal vote-by-mail. If that’s true, then it’s something we need to change. We need to build the kind of voting infrastructure that can make our democracy pandemic-proof.

And even now, we can do a better job of working with what we’ve got. Even without universal vote-by-mail, we can send every registered voter an absentee ballot application and a prepaid return envelope. Even in the absence of online registration, we can send tech-savvy state employees to help towns virtually authenticate new voters. And to keep our at-risk seniors who usually volunteer safe, we can recruit a cohort of college students to work the polls.

Thanks to Gov. Mills, we have an extra month to implement these measures before the next election. And thanks to Congress, we can get stimulus funds to cover the cost of these changes.

There’s no excuse for inaction. Let’s protect our democracy now.

Charles Skold

candidate for Democratic nomination, Maine House District 38

Portland