Rosa on Elections

Rosa Scarcelli, my initial gubernatorial candidate, takes Eliot Cutler to town in her recent Bangor Daily News article: “Open primaries in case of democracy.”

Attacks on the long tradition of early and absentee voting in Maine ignore the fact that the popularity of absentee voting in gubernatorial elections has significantly increased voter turnout since at least 2002. This time around, more than 140,000 people voted early or absentee. Any move to eliminate the choice and convenience of this option will restrict voter participation, counter to the core principles of our democratic system.

So she wants non-party primaries. Which, granted, could also be seen as sour grapes; she lost the Democratic primary back in the spring.