The Wabanaki Alliance has come out in opposition to Question 1 on November’s ballot.
The referendum would include a requirement that voters show a photo ID at the polls. Tribal IDs would not be included as an acceptable form of identification.
“That is just unacceptable to us at the Wabanaki Alliance, and we find it, frankly, offensive,” said Maulian Bryant, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance. “It’s a key piece of our tribal sovereignty that we can identify our members, and we can sort of carry this with us as we belong to our tribal nation. Sure, we're Mainers, we're Americans, but this is also really significant and important in our lives is being identified as part of our tribal community.”
Bryant said many Wabanaki citizens use Tribal IDs as their primary form of identification. And for others who do not have a driver’s license, it is often their sole form of identification.
“A real concern with Question 1 is it will have a disproportionate impact on certain populations, and that includes Maine's tribal nations,” said Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.
Bellows said excluding Tribal IDs from acceptable forms of identification at the polls could make it more difficult for Wabanaki citizens to vote.
“Under current law, they can use a Tribal ID to register to vote. If question one passes, they won't be able to use that same tribal ID when they go to vote,” Bellow said.
Question 1 also includes proposed changes to absentee voting. Bryant said these changes would disenfranchise elderly and disabled Wabanaki citizens and create unnecessary barriers.
Among the changes called for in the proposed measure: the elimination of automatic absentee ballot mailing for seniors 65 and older, restrictions on family members’ ability to request a ballot on someone's behalf, and limits on the number of absentee ballot drop boxes.
Bryant said the reduced number absentee ballot drop boxes would directly affect the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians reservation.
“Because they do have a drop box closer to their community, and this would make it so that they would have to drive further into Houlton to drop off absentee ballots, so that the drop box provision is especially harmful to that Wabanaki community,” Bryant said.
Bryant said the referendum reinforces the historic disenfranchisement of Wabanaki voters.
“It's very important to us to exercise our right to vote. It took a very, very long time for us to get that right in the state of Maine, even though federally, indigenous people got the right to vote in 1924 we weren't allowed to vote in state elections until 1967,” Bryant said.
The proposed absentee ballot and voter ID changes especially affect Wabanaki elders, many of whom remember a time when tribal citizens were not allowed to vote in state elections, Bryant said.
“I lost a grandmother a few months ago, and she voted in every single election. She was born in 1938, so she lived a good chunk of her life not being able to vote in Maine state elections, and she made a priority to get out and vote,” Bryant said. “And thinking about her possibly not being able to vote because of some restriction that that we pass in this very loaded question, that's really heartbreaking.”
The Wabanaki Alliance has joined the Save Maine Absentee Voting Coalition, the primary organization leading to fight opposing Question 1.
Bellows said should Question 1 pass, the state will work with tribal governments to ensure Wabanaki citizens are able to get the identification they need to vote.
The architects of Question 1 have said the absentee balloting changes are "minor" and point to polling that shows photo ID requirements consistently draw bipartisan support.
