Annlinn Kruger.

Jun 21, 2026

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY

We always welcome letter submissions to The Bar Harbor Story.

For details on our policy, please visit our about page and scroll down or just visit here.

As with all newspapers, the beliefs, opinions, and viewpoints expressed by the writers of letters to the editor and included here do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, opinions, and viewpoints or official policies of The Bar Harbor Story.

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All the past letters to the editor can be found on the Substack site here.

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Defend Vote By Mail

For decades, in states across the nation, Vote By Mail has proven to be a popular and secure way to vote. Now, based on debunked claims of fraud, the Trump administration is working to overturn the government policies which secure our votes. In March, Pres. Trump signed an Executive Order demanding that states turn over their voter rolls so that his administration could create its own list of authorized voters. Only those states complying and only Americans approved by the Trump administration would be eligible for vote by mail. Now the Postal Service, is planning to amend the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service to comply with Trump’s order. The Executive Order violates the Constitution, which gives states the authority to regulate elections. It also violates provisions of the Voting Rights Act and Privacy Act. The amendment violates federal law which makes USPS an independent agency and requires it to be a neutral service.

This is only a recent Republican scheme to suppress our vote. In wooing and winning disgruntled Dixiecrats (who helped morph the Party of Lincoln to MAGA) the GOP embraced and expanded Jim Crow voter suppression tactics. Such efforts are personified by voter fraud conspiracy theorist Hans Von Spakovsky — an expert in using government authority to suppress voter rights, including scrubbing eligible Americans from voter rolls and restricting mail in voting — whose contribution to Project 2025 informs the Trump administration’s specious voter fraud claims and worse policies. Including this effort to undermine the 2026 midterm elections.

Mainers have rejected such policies before. Our state government has refused to turn over voter rolls — which contain a wide range of personal information. In November 2025, by an almost 2 to 1 vote, Maine voters rejected a Republican ballot initiative to suppress early voting, including mail in voting. Until July 2, we can comment on the Ballot Mail for Federal Elections amendment through the Federal Register and through the non-partisan League of Women Voters. This is a chance to defend the vote by mail option which so many of us rely on.

Take Action | League of Women Voters

.https://www.lwv.org/take-action.

Federal Register :: Ballot Mail for Federal Elections

.https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/06/02/2026-10968/ballot-mail-for-federal-elections.

Annlinn Kruger

Bar Harbor