AUGUSTA — Civil libertarians, the League of Women Voters and other voting-rights advocates are supporting a bill to establish a statewide system of early voting.

The bill sponsored by Standish Democratic Rep. Mike Shaw proposes to amend the Maine Constitution to require the Legislature to authorize a process allowing a qualified voter to vote at a polling place in or outside of the city, town or plantation where that voter’s residence has been established during a period immediately preceding an election.

It also allows for voting by absentee ballot by citizens for reasons deemed sufficient without requiring in the Constitution that the voter be absent or physically incapacitated.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine and other groups plan a news conference Wednesday in support of Shaw’s bill.