Measure on the ballot in the 2023 Maine General Election in Maine.
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Get StartedThe intent of this proposed amendment to the Maine Constitution is to give the Department of Secretary of State and the judicial branch more time to review whether petitions for citizens' initiatives and people's vetoes have enough valid signatures to meet constitutional requirements and to shield the Department of Secretary of State from having to divert resources to reviewing petitions while it is administering a general election. The Maine Constitution currently provides in article IV, part third, section 22, that laws governing judicial review of the Secretary of State's determination of the validity of a citizens' initiative petition or people's veto petition must ensure that review is completed within 100 calendar days of when the petition is filed with the Secretary of State. Consistent with this provision, the Maine Legislature has enacted laws that establish deadlines for the Secretary of State's determination of validity, Superior Court review of that determination, and appeal to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, that add up to 100 calendar days. Under the proposed amendment, the Legislature would be permitted to extend the deadlines for Secretary of State and judicial review, so that they collectively add up to 100 business days instead of 100 calendar days. Such an expansion would add approximately 40 calendar days to the maximum permitted review period. The Legislature could, through implementing legislation, allocate these extra days to the Secretary of State, the Superior Court, and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court as it saw fit. The proposed amendment also contains language that would allow the Legislature to further extend the deadlines for written petitions filed with the Secretary of State around the time of a November general election. Specifically, if a petition for a direct initiative or people's veto were filed with the Secretary of State within 30 calendar days before or after a November general election, the proposed amendment would allow any time that elapses between the date of filing and the date 30 calendar days after the election to be excluded from the calculation of the 100-day deadline.
A "YES" vote is to amend the Maine Constitution to allow more time for review of citizens' initiative and people's veto petitions.
A "NO" vote opposes this change to the Maine Constitution.
"L.D. 1012, in conjunction with L.D. 233 heard last month, is an important bill that will protect the integrity of Maine elections by smoothing out the workflow requirements placed on a small elections staff without creating a significant impact on the petitions process or increased costs to the state. Specifically, L.D. 1012 changes the time period for judicial review of the validity of a written petition, from 100 days after submission of the petition to 100 days after the deadline for submission to the Elections Division. This bill does not change the amount of time a petition campaign has to gather signatures, nor the lifespan of those signatures. Additionally, this bill does not change the timeframe in which the court may conduct judicial review." - Julie L. Flynn, Deputy Secretary of State, in support of Question 5 (Learn more)
Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to change the time period for judicial review of the validity of written petitions from within 100 days from the date of filing to within 100 business days from the date of filing of a written petition in the office of the Secretary of State, with an exception for petitions filed within 30 calendar days before or after a general election?
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