Mainers Can Start Registering To Vote Online In 2023

In a move that is sure to send a good deal of Mainers into a frenzy, Gov. Mills signed legislation that will make it so Mainers will be able to register to vote through a secure portal, starting in 2023. Maine will become the 33rd state in the U.S. to allow voters to do it this way.

Why would anyone hate this?

This is a hard question to answer without getting into a lot of political ideology I don't really care about. But... generally speaking, it's often believed this is to benefit liberals/democrats somehow. For myself, I just think it's convenient. Well over half the country, including many "red" states, have online registration.

But the convenience for everyone should outweigh the difference of opinion. Will it? Who knows. That's up to the individual. These days, most folks do almost everything online. You can register your car. You can buy your groceries. Heck, you can even buy a car to haul those groceries.... all on the internet.

This will not be in place before the next governor's race.

Comment threads online have implied that maybe this would be used as a tactic to upset the governor's race somehow in 2022, but again, this law takes effect a year later. So no need to yell conspiracy quite yet...

This new law was proposed by Democratic Rep. Teresa Pierce, and she explained it this way to the Associated Press, she says this will "...modernize our voter registration system while prioritizing accessibility and security."

Maine is always trying to find ways to innovate and keep up with the rest of the country, and this is just another stepping stone on that path. Sure, not everyone is going to love this, and they may be a very vocal group, sharing their opinion. But hey... we live in a free country and making your opinion heard is what it's all about.