Carolee Lindsey is a psychotherapist living in Cumberland.

Get out the vote! A declaration as urgent today as at any moment in our 250-year history. Left unchallenged and untethered to the Constitution, the current purge of democratic laws, protections and freedoms will become our shame — our legacy as the generation responsible for
the extinction of the Great American Experiment.

It took 16 years for Hungary’s authoritarian leader to be voted out of office. Before that happened, his corrupt government and crony oligarchs ravaged national coffers, destroyed liberal democracy, eroded judicial independence, dismantled checks on executive authority and seized
control of the press.

He rewrote the constitution and systematically crippled public and democratic institutions. Through a campaign of propaganda, disinformation, fear and intolerance, he weaponized immigration.

As disciples of Viktor Orbán, President Trump, his enablers and the authors of Project 2025 have repeatedly and shamelessly demonstrated their admiration for the defeated leader’s playbook. Destroying constitutional rights while elevating corruption and cronyism has long been Trump’s fever dream — as has his deliberate infliction of cruelty, illegal incarceration and hate under the guise of necessary “reforms.”

His antidemocratic ambitions, coupled with an insatiable hunger for revenge, have infected our institutions, shattered our international alliances and stained our national character.

The Supreme Court just exploited Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Republican gerrymandering (2019) gets a pass as partisan and the Democrats’ redistricting is labeled race-
based (2026).

By technically conflating the two issues they feign neutrality. Let us not allow an assault on overall voting rights to become the next specious “reform” that severs our freedom.

Challenges to democratic values have occurred throughout American history. In 1950, when fear of “communists” and “subversives” threatened constitutional rights, Margaret Chase Smith, then the junior Republican senator from Maine, chose to confront the hysteria. In what became known as her “Declaration of Conscience” speech, she accused her colleagues of turning their authority into a forum for “hate and character assassination.”

Smith cautioned against “Fear, ignorance, bigotry and smear,” and defended Americans’ fundamental rights: to free speech, to criticize their government, to protest and to think independently. Condemning leadership’s reckless and disreputable tactics, Smith, helped thwart that partisan trajectory.

Lies about election fraud are among the many manufactured threats this administration deploys today — a modern echo of “communist” and “subversive” smears.

The federal SAVE America Act embodies the sham premise that our electoral system is neither safe nor secure. In a 63% to 36% outcome, Maine voters decisively rejected a similar ruse, defeating referendum Question 1 last November.

Yet our current senior Republican senator from Maine not only missed her opportunity for her own declaration of conscience, she pivotally supported the administration, directly defying her constituents’ clear verdict.

Multiple challenges and claims of widespread fraud in 2020 have been repeatedly debunked. Even the Heritage Foundation — authors of Project 2025 — found scant voter fraud in its own investigation.

Nevertheless, Trump continues his claims of widespread fraud, attempting to bypass Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution — and seize election control. States, not the federal government, are the authority governing elections.

The SAVE Act would require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship — a birth certificate, passport or driver’s license — and photo ID at the polls. If enacted, voter registration drives would be eliminated and online or mail-in registration would become impossible.

Name and address changes — disproportionately affecting women and marginalized voters — would repeatedly trigger requirements to resubmit proof of citizenship. Voter registration lists would be turned over to the Department of Homeland Security for use at its discretion. These are not administrative reforms. They are instruments of oppression and intimidation, designed to shrink the electorate and tighten the regime’s grip on voter control.

Defending our vote requires tenacity, vigilance and planning. Vote early and in person. Use drop boxes for absentee ballots. Register before or on Election Day as provided under Maine law. Know your polling place. Ask a trusted friend or family member to pick up and return your ballot.

If mailing your ballot, allow at least 14 days. Maine’s Secretary of State has repeatedly and unequivocally confirmed the safety and integrity of all voting methods in our state. We do not have to capitulate for 16 years to an Orbán-style illiberal democracy.

Sen. Smith reminded us that principle and constitutional commitment are greater than our dysfunctional divisiveness. In this 250th year of American independence, let us embrace what that freedom demands — and repudiate the lies and abuses that threaten it. Following the lead of Hungary’s electorate, and the inspiration of current and former beacons of American justice, we can manifest our own declaration of conscience.

Our votes are how we speak truth to power and restore constitutional representation. Democracy will not die on our watch.