The nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Maine has suspended voter registration outreach at citizenship ceremonies after the Trump administration last week issued a rule barring NGOs from doing that work.
Under the new rule, only state or local election officials will be allowed to register voters at naturalization events.
Karen Benoit oversees a team of dozens of voter registration volunteers through the League, and said the new restriction is "heartbreaking."
"We do not promote any political party," she said. "Why are we not allowed into the ceremony and to help these people, if we're not saying, you know, who's good, who's bad, we're just helping them in the process?"
The League typically registers hundreds of voters each year at naturalization ceremonies, according to civic engagement director Evan Murray.
Now, Murray said they'll try to reach eligible voters at other events, and through partnerships with immigrant community groups.
"But it is really distressing to us, in a lot of ways, to not be one of those first contacts for brand new citizens, people who have just sworn an oath to become American," Murray said.
In a statement posted to social media, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said that while the League is barred from citizenship ceremonies, her office will "step in to support the rights of all citizens in Maine."
