Yesterday, October 18, Governor LePage was quoted in the Bangor Daily News as saying “I am not confident that we are going to have a clean election Maine.” Well, after 18 years as a poll worker here in Rockport, I am completely confident. I have worked every election, June and November, except two — the time I was on the ballot, running for our town Budget Committee, and this coming election. I am not on the ballot, but I am known in town for being in favor of the bond article for a new library. Linda Greenhouse, our town clerk, asked me to not participate because it might look wrong, and I agreed. Perception is important. Trust and belief may depend on it.

Linda, and her predecessor, Brenda Richardson, and their assistants, town employees and many volunteers, are incredibly conscious about their role in elections. We banter with friends coming into vote, sure, but every voter has to announce their name, give their current address, and is checked off the master role of registered voters. No one gets to vote 10 times under fake names, no one gets to go in to the booth with a voter except a young child or someone helping a disabled person. No one gets to stuff the ballot box. Every step is controlled by a Democrat and a Republican, mostly the same people of the other party we have worked with for years. Everything is witnessed, every vote is recorded properly. We all worry about that. We all care about that.

Governor LePage has insulted many people over the years, and now he has accused employees and residents of the towns and cities of Maine of misusing a core practice of democracy either through incompetence or through illegal intention. I take it personally, and would like an apology.

Jan Rosenbaum lives in Rockport