Joseph O’Connor lives in Auburn.

It’s been more than two centuries since Maine separated from Massachusetts and became the 23rd state. During that time, Mainers have voted in thousands of local, county, state and federal elections, as well as on ballot questions including amendments to our state constitution.

In that time, there has never been a serious allegation of voter fraud or a “stolen election.” Yet suddenly, Maine Republicans have discovered that “election integrity” is a huge problem that requires immediate attention.

There is no nonpartisan way to put it: Question 1 is another Republican plan to suppress the votes of people they believe will vote against them.

In other words, it’s Jim Crow 2.0.

In fact, Question 1’s real goal should be clear: Its backers want to suppress opposing votes by controlling who gets an ID or absentee ballot, and how they get it.

What do I mean by that? A bit of history: The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed after the Civil War, supposedly ensured that the right to vote could not be denied “by any state on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude [that is, former slaves].”

Despite that apparently ironclad guarantee, through a system known as “Jim Crow,” Black citizens in the former Confederate states were systematically deprived of their right to vote until the passage of the Voting Rights Act in the mid-1960s.

How was that done? By an elaborate system of requirements designed to ensure that no Black citizen would “qualify” to exercise their right to vote.

This took too many forms to list, but here’s one that might sound familiar: the term “grandfather clause” is well known as a rule that an existing right cannot be taken away. But it originated under Jim Crow, with state laws that said anyone was free to vote — so long as their grandfather was a legal voter. That disenfranchised not only every freed slave but all their descendants as well.

Although laws like this were clearly unconstitutional, a law is meaningless if it isn’t enforced, and the federal government had neither the will nor the means to enforce the 15th Amendment until the passage of the Voting Rights Act in the mid-1960s (when, as LBJ predicted when he signed the VRA, millions of former Dixiecrats flocked to the Republican Party).

Now, thanks to the Roberts Supreme Court, the VRA has been largely neutered and in many red states Jim Crow 2.0 has officially returned.

What does this mean for Maine? Again, in 205 years there has never been a serious claim of a “stolen election” in Maine. But besides requiring ID (more about that later), Question 1 would also restrict absentee ballots in several ways. This is true even though Donald Trump himself voted absentee (Google: “Did Trump vote absentee?”).

So what is the problem? Apparently, Republican leaders have concluded that the people most likely to vote absentee are also the most likely to vote Democrat — such as senior citizens and disabled people, who for some reason are deeply concerned about Republican plans for their Social Security.

Fortunately for Mainers, we have a couple of examples of how red states have taken advantage of the Supreme Court’s abandonment of the VRA:

• Following Trump’s command, Texas recently took the unprecedented step of redistricting its congressional districts before a midterm election, with the express intention of adding five Republican seats to the House of Representatives. Although not directly connected
  with Question 1, it makes clear how Republicans really feel about fair elections.
• Texas’ voter ID law says a firearms permit is an acceptable ID but a college student ID, even with a photo, is not.

Which party do you suppose benefits from those laws?

So, if you think suppressing the votes of your fellow citizens is required to ensure “’voter integrity,” vote “Yes” on Question 1. But if you care about preserving Maine’s two‐centuries-old tradition of democratic elections, you must vote “No.”