Midcoast Residents Picket in Support of Ohio recount

On Sunday afternoon, undaunted by overcast skies and drizzle, over 40 people gathered in front of the State House in Augusta to attend a demonstration organized by the Midcoast Peace and Justice Group.

They came to support the ballot recount effort that is going on in Ohio and to call for the abolition of the electoral college, the replacement of partisan oversight of elections with nonpartisan election commissions and the prevention of lawless vote suppression and voter intimidation.

In addition they called on Maine's congressional delegation to draft and support legislation that would guarantee a voter-verified paper trail for voting machines in all states. Maine currently has such legislation in force but the people who demonstrated on Sunday clearly felt that Mainers are held hostage, in a political sense, by states where electronic machines that produce unverifiable results are being used and where electoral irregularities and the possibility of outright fraud may have occurred. Demonstrators held aloft hastily created signs to call attention to their cause, "No! To Corporate Run Elections!", "One Person One Vote!", "Election Reform Now!", there was even a sign that sported a pessimistic message, "Why Vote?"

Crews for several local television stations were there to shoot footage for the evening news. As several people pounded on a huge community drum and set up a tempo that could be heard for blocks, others spoke to one another and to the cameras. They had a lot to say:

Rich Lucas — Owls Head, "Democracy means every vote gets counted."

Lucia Robinson — Whitefield, "I'm here because I believe we need to be very public about the need for election reform in this country."

Molly Willcox — Westport, "This is an extremely critical and historic moment in our nation's history, are the current Ohio electors legitimate? A miscount may indicate that an entirely different set of electors needs to be chosen by the people of Ohio."

Jeff Evangelos — Friendship, "This election is not over, the count must continue in order to restore democracy to the United States. Nearly 30% of the votes are being cast on machines that create no paper trail."

Rosalie Paul — Georgetown, "These demonstrations serve to make visible the need for a fair and democratic voting process in our country."

Jill Abernethey — Rockland, "If we can't trust the vote, we don't have democracy."

Peggy Smith — Lincolnville, "Democracy is precious, but democracy only works when people work for democracy."

As the chill began to set in, people packed up their signs and vigil candles and hoisted the huge community drum and began the walk back to the State House parking lot. Camaraderie and high spirits seemed to prevail. The domed capitol was left to the silence and solitude of what remained of a Sunday afternoon.

The demonstrators weren't feeling any solitude though, they understood that they were not alone and that similar demonstrations were underway at State capitols throughout the nation. There seemed to be a shared and general feeling that they were part of a grassroots groundswell that had real momentum and would not be receding any time soon.

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