Targeting College Students for Increased Scrutiny Amounts to Intimidation and Harassment
AUGUSTA – Gov. LePage today threatened to investigate college students who vote in this election.
Federal laws including the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibit attempts to intimidate, threaten or coerce any person for voting or attempting to vote. 42 U.S.C. § 1973i(b)
The following can be attributed to Zachary Heiden, legal director at the ACLU of Maine:
“The governor’s statement seems designed to make college students afraid to vote. Voter intimidation and harassment is illegal, and we call on the Department of Justice to investigate the intent of the governor’s comments.
“College students who live in Maine have the right to vote in Maine, and they are not subject to different laws than anyone else. Many of these young people are voting for the first time in a presidential election. The governor should be encouraging that civic participation, not doing everything in his power to undermine it.”
