Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows joined voting rights advocates Saturday in Portland’s Payson Park to call for passage of three bills before Congress that would expand or protect access to the ballot box across the United States.
Bellows, along with advocates from the League of Women Voters of Maine, Common Cause Maine and Mainers for Accountable Leadership, recruited residents to call their senators and spread awareness of pending voting rights legislation in a “votercade” around Portland. The demonstration was meant to mobilize support for H.R. 1, known as the For the People Act; S. 4263, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act; and another bill that would make Washington, D.C., the 51st state.
“Make no mistake: our democracy is at a crossroads,” Bellows said at the event, accusing Republicans of orchestrating a concerted policy of voter suppression across the country, even as voting rights advocates work to open the doors wider.