State Feed: Maine

Citizen Initiatives Update

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:20:29 -0400

A quick update on the citizen initiative votes from yesterday in California and Maine.

California’s citizen initiatives, Prop 16 and 17, were both defeated at the polls yesterday. Prop 16 voted down by a 52.3% to 47.7% margin. Prop 17 lost 51.7% to 48.3%.

California and Maine Head to Polls

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:20:04 -0400

In addition to the many primary elections happening today around the country, voters in California and Maine are also voting on state-wide ballot questions.

California has 5 state-wide measures up for a vote today, but only two are citizen initiatives, Prop 16 and Prop 17.

Mary Adams Honored for Her Work Protecting Maine’s Initiative & Referendum Process

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:46:59 -0400

(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Today, Citizens in Charge Foundation, a transpartisan national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, presented Maine Citizen State Coordinator Mary Adams with the June 2010 John Lilburne Award. Adams is being honored this month for her work over the decades in not only utilizing, but defending and expanding the initiative & referendum process in the state of Maine.

Mary Adams Honored for Her Work Protecting Maine’s Initiative & Referendum Process

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:42:38 -0400

Maine: Casino measure wording finalized

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:29:11 -0400

Maine’s secretary of state has decided upon the wording of a citizen initiative question that will be on the Nov. 2 ballot asking voters if they want to allow a casino in western Maine. Matthew Dunlap says the question will read: “Do you want to allow a casino with table games and slot machines at a single site in Oxford County, subject to local approval, with part of the profits going to specific state, local and tribal programs?”

Read the story from WBZ 38

Citizens' Rights Safe in Many States as State Legislatures End Sessions

Tue, 18 May 2010 14:23:59 -0400

Of the 45 states whose legislatures hold sessions in 2010, 27 of them have adjourned for the year, and 5 more will wrap up before the end of the month. Of the more than 80 bills dealing with the initiative and referendum process in various states, 51 of them would have reduced citizens’ initiative rights. Thanks to the work of activists in our coalitions, only 3 bills reducing citizen’s rights have passed and become law.

Maine: Casino approved for ballot

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 11:56:41 -0400

The Senate yesterday voted in favor of sending only a proposal to develop a casino in Oxford County to voters in November. The 26-8 vote effectively kills a proposal to put a three-part question on the ballot that would have allowed voters to approve the Oxford casino, a casino in Washington County run by the Passamaquoddy Tribe and table games at Hollywood Slots in Bangor, according to the Sun Journal. The House voted similarly on Friday.

Read the story from the Maine Biz

Maine Citizens Urge Governor: Veto Free Speech Restrictions

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:31:27 -0400

Citizens in Charge, a partner organization of Citizens in Charge Foundation, issued the following press release this morning:

(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Today, Citizens in Charge, a transpartisan national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, urges Maine Governor John Baldacci to veto LD 1730, which passed the Maine House on Monday, and is currently on his desk. If signed into law, LD 1730 would require anyone who intends to pay campaign workers to collect signatures on a petition to register with the state.

Maine: State House approves initiative reform bill

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:08:31 -0400

Concerns about the integrity of Maine’s ballot initiative process have prompted action on a bill to tighten the requirements for organizations behind petition campaigns. The House on Monday agreed with the Senate and approved a measure requiring businesses that receive compensation for circulating petitions to register with the Secretary of State.

Read the story from the Bangor Daily News

Maine Citizens Protest States’ Unconstitutional Bill

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 13:05:36 -0400

(Augusta, ME) - Today several of Maine’s grassroots activists and community organizers united in protest to an unconstitutional bill moving through the state legislature which would hinder Mainers’ initiative & people’s veto referendum rights.

Mary Adams, Chair of the 2006 Taxpayer Bill of Rights Referendum, and Dana Cote, President of the National Worksite Benefit Group are among the state leaders who have sent a coalition letter to the Maine legislature asking them to vote “no” on LD 1730, and vote “yes” for Maine’s First Amendment rights.

Maine: Democrats vote to tighten initiative process

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:21:40 -0400

The Maine Senate has passed legislation tightening the ballot initiative process. The measure requires greater disclosure of who is paying for the circulation of petitions for ballot initiatives. It also allows more time for a challenge to a petition. Sen. Bruce Bryant, an Oxford Democrat, supported the measure during floor debate.

Read the story from the Maine Public Broadcasting Network

Mainers' Rights Still In Peril: A Report from Augusta

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:06:56 -0500

Here is the latest update for the three anti-initiative and referendum bills currently working their way through the Maine Legal and Veterans Affairs (LVA) Committee.

LD 1690, “An Act To Prevent Predatory Signature Gathering and Ensure a Clean Citizen Initiative and People’s Veto Process” was voted on in Committee Work Session (2/25) as Ought Not to Pass; however it has not been reported out of committee yet.

Fireworks Expected as Mainers Fight to Protect Petition Rights (updated)

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:43:03 -0500

Two controversial anti-initiative bills are about to be brought up once again in the Maine Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee. Both bills would chill petitioning in Maine, and lawmakers have been hearing from activists on the issue. Fireworks are expected, and you can listen in right now live via the Legislature’s website by clicking here.

Legislative Committee Still Working Hard to Silence Maine Voters

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:32:51 -0500

As I anticipated, yesterday’s work session in the Maine Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee discussion centered on Senator Seth Berry’s bill, the amended version of LD 1690 (LD 1690-A), that contains provisions meant to curtail the ballot initiative and People’s Veto referendum rights of Mainers. LD 1730, with similar provisions, was also slated to be discussed but was not.

Legislative Committee Still Working Hard to Silence Maine Voters

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:32:51 -0500

Maine: Republicans help kill bill that would restrict initiative process

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 10:40:42 -0500

A bill that would impose new standards governing the citizen’s initiative and people’s veto ballot process was killed today by a legislative policy committee. Democratic House Majority Whip Seth Berry, of Bowdoinham, says his bill was an attempt to bring greater accountability and transparency to the process of bringing issues to ballot, but Republican opponents saw the proposal as an attempt to complicate and discourage signature-gathering efforts.

Maine: Democrats continue to press for restrictions to initiative process

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:17:44 -0500

Partisan flare-ups erupted Monday during a work session on bills sponsored by two prominent Democratic legislators who say that citizen initiatives and people’s vetoes are vulnerable to fraud and manipulation. Republican opponents of both bills see the legislation as a way to hamstring citizens who want exercise their right to influence government policies at the ballot box. State Sen. Debra Plowman says she had it with Democratic efforts to tighten up some perceived loose ends in the state’s citizen initiative laws.

Mary Adams, Longtime Activist for Voter Rights’ Stands Up to the Maine Legislature

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:04:41 -0500

Today, long time ballot initiative rights activist—and Citizens in Charge Foundation Maine Citizen State Coordinator—Mary Adams informed the Maine Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee of the harm posed to the citizen initiative process by a series of bills.

Maine: Changes considered for initiative process

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:37:51 -0500

Maine lawmakers are considering some measures aimed at tightening the state’s voter initiative process. The Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee is hearing testimony today on three measures: LD 1690 would require an electronic list of certified signatures and give potential challengers more time to look them over; LD 1692 would require petition drive organizers to let people know the amount and source of money required to implement the initiative; and LD 1730 would hike penalties for fraud. Some signatures gathered in recent drives have turned out to be bogus.

Maine Petition Challengers Must Prove State Made Mistakes Certifying People's Veto Signatures

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:36:39 -0500

The Portland Press Herald has this brief news story today about the legal challenge to Maine’s Secretary of State over certifying petition signatures.