Voting rights are not a partisan issue. Whether a person is Republican, Democrat, Green, tea party or unenrolled, LD199 is going to make it more difficult to cast a ballot in Maine on Election Day.

Requiring voters to present a Maine photo ID at the polls is not a new idea, but it is still a bad idea as it directly targets the thousands of college students who live in Maine, and will unfairly affect the elderly, low-income, homeless and less well-off in this state who, when faced with obstacles at the ballot box, often leave without making their voices heard. It is unacceptable to make it more difficult for people to participate in the political process.

Democracy means one person equals one vote. Not, one person equals one vote only if he or she can jump through the obstacles that are set in the way.

I wonder why lawmakers want to make it more difficult for their constituents to cast their votes. Maybe they worried that some of the decisions they have made (cutting pensions, eroding environmental protections, right to work for less — just a few examples) are not so popular in their districts. If it is more difficult for people to vote, it is easier for politicians to make radical decisions while still planning on running for re-election in future elections.

I am against LD199.

Mary Roussel, Auburn