A vote is a vote when a voter isn’t from out of town

Regarding the editorial, “Town, Gown and Ballot,” (BDN Feb. 2), this bill was not a bill to “restrict the voting rights of college students.” What it was rightly attempting to do was to get college students to comply with the same residency requirements that I have to comply with. Under current policy from the secretary of state, college students are given “greater” voting rights than full-time residents.

They are not required, as I am, to establish a residence in Maine, they are not required to register their vehicles in Maine, they are not required to get a Maine driver’s license, they are not required to pay excise tax on their vehicles, and they are not required to comply with Maine income tax laws.

And yet, they are granted full rights and privileges of residency. Using the same criteria for all would require granting of voting rights to tourists and other part-time residents.

One student who opposed this bill professed his strong desire to be treated as a Maine resident. However, he still referred to his home in Connecticut as “home,” still had a Connecticut driver’s license, still had his car registered in Connecticut, and seemed completely unaware that he was obligated to pay income tax to Maine on the income he made during the summer in Connecticut.

As you stated in your editorial, Rep. Janet Mills did point out that taxes as a litmus test for the ability to vote was “discarded constitutionally” years ago. The tax she referred to was the “poll tax.” And indeed they are unconstitutional. However, the taxes they are asked to pay are the same taxes I pay: excise and income. If these taxes are in fact “poll taxes,” then I want a refund of all these “poll taxes” that I have paid over the years. Just like I do, they pay sales tax on their purchases.

If the purpose of the lenient voting residency rules is, as you stated, “to persuade more young adults to vote” and then to stay in Maine, perhaps some “truth in advertising” principals need to be applied.

Let these students know that as residents they are now required to register their vehicles in Maine, pay excise tax to the local community on their vehicles, get a Maine driver’s license, and pay Maine income tax even on the income they earn back in their “state of origin” during the summer months.

When students share the burdens of residency that I do, they are welcomed with open arms. They can also volunteer their time at the Special Olympics that are held at the University of Maine Orono campus every summer.

They will find me and my wife there doing our best to make it a successful experience for Special Olympians. If they are unwilling to share these burdens, they don’t deserve the rights and privileges of residency.

They do still retain the right to vote by absentee ballot in their home towns and I strongly encourage them to do so. Absentee ballot was the only way I could vote during my 23 years of active service in the U.S. Army. It works and enfranchises all citizens who wish to vote.

Sidney Sinclair resides in Orono.