I am deeply disappointed in the legislators who are holding up funding for Clean Election Act candidates.
By refusing to fix an error in the state budget, some Republican lawmakers are using this typo to go back on the bargains they struck last year.
Why is Clean Elections a partisan matter at all? Candidates from any party can, and do, use this system, but once in office, some Republicans who have won seats as Clean Election candidates have done things to sabotage the system. Why would they do that?
As a voter who has twice supported Clean Elections in referendums, and who has given my $5 qualifying contributions to candidates in this election, I find it shocking that some legislators are once again interfering with the will of the people.
Maine is a leader in the fight for greater integrity in government. Maine is the first in the nation to use Clean Elections. Democracy lovers around the country and the world are watching what happens here.
Maine people expect to be represented by their legislators. The voters don’t want to be overruled by a party machine any more than they want their choices limited by who has the most money to spend in an election.
I hope these legislators will put the will of the citizens of Maine first and pass L.D. 1894 to fix the error without any more delay. We are looking at you with the hope in our hearts that you can still stand up for what is right.
Judy LaBrasca
Falmouth
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