Maine’s Jared Golden Has A Shaky Historical past Supporting Voter ID Legal guidelines

[ad_1] Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine bucked his personal occasion to aspect with Republicans on voter ID necessities lately, however solely after voting towards related necessities twice when he was a state legislator.

Golden is a vocal supporter of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a Republican invoice to bolster election safety, together with by means of instituting a voter ID requirement to register to solid a poll in a federal election. However a decade prior when Golden was serving within the Maine legislature, he voted towards related state laws twice.

In 2015, Golden voted to kill LD 197, “An Act To Strengthen Maine’s Election Legal guidelines by Requiring Photographic Identification for the Goal of Voting.”

Two years later in 2017, Golden voted once more towards voter ID laws. Golden and his fellow state Democrats voted in favor of a movement to not go LD 121 , which “requires {that a} voter present proof of id with photographic identification for the aim of voting. The invoice specifies the kinds of photographic identification which may be used to confirm the id of a voter.”

Final 12 months, Golden seemingly shifted his stance on voter identification legal guidelines. The Maine Democrat, who was elected to United States Congress in 2018, voted in assist of the GOP-led SAVE Act. He voted for it once more earlier this 12 months.

Golden later justified his assist for the SAVE Act in a publish on his Substack that bashed his fellow Democrats for fearmongering.

“Guaranteeing American elections are just for residents is a proposition supported by 83% of People. It enjoys bipartisan assist,” Golden wrote . “However identical to pro-worker, anti-free commerce insurance policies that had been as soon as welcomed for consideration by Democrats, this primary election integrity proposal has been sucked into the broader dynamic of resistance to something that has assist from Republicans, and particularly assist from President Trump. Some are utilizing deceptive worry ways about voter suppression as a result of they assume it can give them an higher hand in politics and elections.”

Golden’s swing towards Republican-backed payments might be a mirrored image of his aggressive seat. He barely gained reelection final 12 months by lower than a degree over his Republican challenger Austin Therialt. Golden’s district, Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, voted for President Donald Trump in 2020 and 2024. Latest polling has prompt Golden is effectively underwater with voters.

“Political opportunist Jared Golden has a document of voting towards commonsense voter ID necessities. However now that his approval ranking is within the dumps and he can’t increase any cash from Mainers, he’s desperately bashing his personal occasion and flip-flopping on any situation he can to get consideration and rating political factors. Sadly for Jared Golden, the deception gained’t work on Mainers. Golden’s days in Congress are numbered.” stated Maureen O’Toole, spokeswoman for the Nationwide Republican Congressional Committee.