AP
Retiring Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, speaks with reporters at the Capitol as Congress returns to work in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012. Snowe didnt run for re-election because of what she called gridlock and partisanship in Washington.
Former Republican U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe is putting her support behind a bill to open Maine s primaries.
The Democrat-sponsored bill would make it possible for unenrolled voters to cast a ballot in party primaries.
Snowe said in a press release from the group Open Primaries Maine: “In order to help ensure that candidates better reflect the ideological pragmatism of most Americans, Maine should enact semi-open primaries.”
Bill to open primaries in Maine gains support from Olympia Snowe pressherald.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pressherald.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
AUGUSTA Today, Open Primaries Maine announced that dozens of former legislators have endorsed L.D. 231, the semi-open primaries bill sponsored by Sen. Chloe Maxmin, D-Lincoln.
Under current Maine law, the 32% of Maine voters who are unenrolled often referred to as independent are prohibited from participating in taxpayer funded primary elections.
L.D. 231 would allow semi-open primaries, meaning these unenrolled voters would be permitted to cast one ballot in the primary of their choice.
Republicans would not be able to vote in Democratic primaries and Democrats would not be able to vote in Republican primaries.
Maine is one of just 14 states with completely closed primaries, and 80% of Maine voters support semi-open primaries, according to a news release.
Bill Would Bring More Millennials Veterans into Maine Primaries / Public News Service publicnewsservice.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from publicnewsservice.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In a political climate where finding common ground is increasingly difficult, I have found one thing that resonates with individuals across the political spectrum: Our existing two-party system is broken and does not adequately serve us as citizens. One fracturing force behind this is the closed, two-party primary system, which excludes non-enrolled (aka independent) voters […]