Voter Registration

PORTLAND, Maine - Voters heading to the polls today can be forgiven for having a sense of déjà vu: They will cast ballots on two more gambling initiatives, bringing the total to eight in 11 years. Also on the ballot is a referendum aimed at restoring same-day voter registration and a constitutional amendment dealing with congressional district boundaries. Ahead of the vote, Mainers were bombarded by advertising campaigns tied to the pair of proposals aimed at establishing three casinos or racetrack casinos in Biddeford, Lewiston, and Calais.

BOSTON Citizen and community groups are suing the state, charging a failure to offer recipients of public assistance help in registering to vote. The suit was filed in federal court Tuesday by the regional office of the NAACP, New England United for Justice, and Bethzaida Delgado, a Massachusetts woman who said she was repeatedly denied voter registration services. The suit contends that Secretary of State William F. Galvin's office and the state Department of Transitional Assistance violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 by failing to offer registration opportunities to the...

The last day to register to vote for the April 24 annual town election is Wednesday. The town clerk's office will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. that day. For voter status questions, call 781-320-1013 or 781-326-3964. A sample ballot is available on the town website at www.townhall.westwood.ma.us. - Michele Morgan Bolton

Town clerk Nancy L. Morrison is reminding residents that May 22 is the final day to register to vote in the annual Town Meeting, which is scheduled to convene on June 11. Morrison said there is separate deadline of June 1 to register to vote in the special town meeting scheduled for June 11 within the annual town meeting. The clerk's office will be open extended hours, until 8 p.m. May 22 and June 1. to serve voter registrants. Registration may also be done by mail. Only those not currently on the voting list need to register.

The deadline to register to vote for the June 12 annual Town Meeting is May 23. The town clerk's office will be open until 8 p.m. on May 23 to accommodate any unregistered residents. Residents will have access to a preliminary report from the Finance Committee no later than May 22, said Town Clerk Joyce Bradshaw. The report will be available at the library, the clerk's office, and on the town's website, www.townofnorthandover.com. Residents also may request the town clerk to mail a copy to them.

The House of Representatives voted Monday night to approve a bill that would allow eligible people to register to vote and cast their ballot on Election Day. House members discussed the legislation for more than five hours before voting. It now moves to the Senate. "Passage of this legislation demonstrates Connecticut's commitment to fair, accessible elections, and I applaud the House for their action on this bill," Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said in a statement. "Using the technology we have available to preserve the integrity of our elections, expand access to the ballot...

WASHINGTON - Field workers for President Obama's campaign fanned across the country over the weekend in an effort to confront a barrage of new voter identification laws that strategists say threaten the campaign's hopes for registering new voters before the November election. In Wisconsin, where a new state law requires those registering voters to be deputized in each of the state's 1,800 municipalities, the campaign has sent a team of trainers armed with instructions for complying with the new regulations.

On April 14 and 21, a group of Salem State University students joined with the North Shore Community Development Coalition and the Point Neighborhood Association to conduct a door-to-door voter registration drive in the city's Point neighborhood. The students were from associate professor Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello's American Identities course and in two of assistant professor of political science Jennifer Jackman's Introduction to American Politics classes. A total of 36 students participated over the two days of canvassing.