The other day someone asked what gift I would like most to receive for Christmas. After several hours of pondering (and the smell of something burning) I shouted “Eureka!” I would appreciate being able to vote for our municipal/school budget on Election Day.
Some will say that I am trashing a tradition upon which Maine and other states were founded, but I state that some traditions must change because they are outdated and no longer applicable.
Throughout our human history there have always been people willing to deny the fundamental rights of other citizens. If we are such a modern and advanced society why do we continue to deny certain groups of voters the right to vote which is considered a basic right of all Americans?
One such past injustice was slavery and slaves certainly did not have the right to vote. Many Americans died over the fight to outlaw slavery and yet many blacks were denied the right to vote for several more decades.
Another perfect example of why some traditions must go by the wayside was the fact that women were not able to vote until the 1920’s when the 19th Amendment was passed thanks to the women’s suffrage movement. Some citizens believed that the Constitution needed no changes but please remember the Founding Fathers were male, white and more than likely landowners who thought that the Constitution would apply only to themselves.
In thinking about the idea of voting on the budget by referendum, rather than at Annual Town Meeting, one must also consider the discrimination against the elderly and disabled since many cannot attend a town meeting because of physical limitations. Must we continue to discriminate against them because others feel such bigotry is still acceptable? Please remember that Maine has a large percentage of citizens becoming senior citizens so does a town meeting really represent the preponderance of our population?
The last group of citizens I will discuss that seldom can attend town meetings is made of men and women who serve in our Armed Forces of which many are facing hostile fire and acts of terrorism on a daily basis. What does it say of a society when the very people serving in harm’s way do not have the right to vote at their town meeting?
So what is the answer? The solution is not complicated nor does it discriminate against any voter of a municipality except that one will certainly hear screams from the town and school workers and administrators. The answer is to have the town meeting prior to Election Day in order to discuss the complicated warrant articles like the budget or other town issues. The citizens would then vote for the budget and other monetary articles on Election Day. This would allow for all voters to obtain absentee ballots in accordance with Maine state laws or statutes. There would not be any voting on amendments to the articles at the town meeting because they have already been set in stone for those voting by absentee ballot.
Since Windham’s Town Charter only permits the council to vote on the budget if the town meeting is discontinued, having the meeting prior to Election Day the voting still remains in the hands of the voters. The citizen retains the right to vote by secret ballot regardless of their individual situation.
Our last town meeting Windham is a prime example why change is needed so we, the voters, can vote by secret ballot on our town’s budget. The last census shows Windham had a population of 14,904 so it certainly should be around 16,000 because of population growth. Approximately 110 citizens attended the last meeting so I ask you should less than one percent of citizens determine the huge budget of our town?
It is ludicrous to even begin to think that this is fair. That fact, coupled with the mortifying thoughts some citizens have when one must show their vote in front of fellow citizens, proves to me that we must be able to vote by secret ballot on our budget without being swayed or pressured by others. Other communities have made this change so isn’t it time to be able to vote without embarrassment?
“Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes-our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.” – Gilbert Keith Chesterton
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