An Act To Strengthen the Maine Clean Election Act
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1724
Committee: Legal and Veterans Affairs
Sponsors: CUMMINGS, EDMONDS, BERRY, CANAVAN, CROCKEIT, DILL, GERZOFSKY, HILL, HOTHAM, PATRICK, PERRY, PINGREE, RECTOR, TARDY, VALENTINO, WEBSTER, BARTLETT, PLOWMAN, ROSEN
Amends: 21-A MRSA §1122, 21-A MRSA §1125, 21-A MRSA §1126

Legislative Document 
No. 1724 
H.P.1207 
House of Representatives, March 23, 2007 
An Act To Strengthen the Maine Clean Election Act 
Reference to the Committee on Legal and Veterans Affairs suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Speaker CUMMINGS of Portland. 
Cosponsored by President EDMONDS of Cumberland and 
/YI~ 
frl.7I/tu~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: BERRY of Bowdoinham, CANAVAN of Waterville, CROCKEIT of 
Augusta, DILL of Cape Elizabeth, GERZOFSKY of Brunswick, HILL of York, HOTHAM of 
Dixfield, PATRICK of Rumford, PERRY of Calais, PINGREE of North Haven, RECTOR of 
Thomaston, TARDY of Newport, VALENTINO of Saco, WEBSTER of Freeport, Senators: 
BARTLETT of Cumberland, PLOWMAN of Penobscot, ROSEN of Hancock. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§7,~, as enacted by IE 1995, c. I, §17, is 
amended to read: 
B. 
Made by a registered voter within the electoral division for the office a candidate 
is seeking who has not already donated a qualifying contribution to another candidate 
seeking election to the same office; 
Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§3, ~A, as enacted by IE 1995, c. I, §17, is 
amended to read: 
A. 
For a gubernatorial candidate, at least ~ 
3,250 verified registered voters of 
this State must support the candidacy by providing a qualifying contribution to that 
candidate; 
Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2005, c. 301, §30, IS 
further amended to read: 
5. Certification of Maine Clean Election Act candidates. Upon receipt of a final 
submittal of qualifying contributions by a participating candidate, the commission or its 
executive director shall determine whether eHffit the candidate has: 
A. 
Signed and filed a declaration of intent to participate in this Act; 
B. 
Submitted the appropriate number of valid qualifying contributions; 
C. 
Qualified as a candidate by petition or other means; 
O. 
Not accepted contributions, except for seed money contributions, and otherwise 
complied with seed money restrictions; 
0-1. 
Not run for the same office as a nonparticipating candidate in a primary 
election in the same election year; ami 
0-2. If the candidate is a gubernatorial candidate, raised at least $15,000 in seed 
money contributions; 
0-3. Not been found to have made a material false statement or misrepresentation in 
a report or other document submitted to the commission; 
0-4. 
Not been previously denied certification as a Maine Clean Election Act 
candidate or had that certification revoked on the basis of fraud or other violations of 
this chapter; 
0-5. No outstanding penalties assessed by the commission under this Title that have 
not been paid within 3 business days from the date of the request for certification; and 
E. 
Otherwise met the requirements for participation in this Act. 
The commission or its executive director shall certify a candidate complying with the 
requirements of this section as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate as soon as possible 
and no later than 3 business days for legislative candidates and 5 business days for 
gubernatorial candidates after final submittal of qualifying contributions. 
The 
, 
• 
... 
( 
I 
commission and its executive director may take additional time if further investigation is 
necessary to verify compliance with certification requirements, as long as the commission 
or its executive director notifies the affected candidate of the anticipated schedule to 
complete the investigation. 
Upon certification, a candidate must transfer to the fund any unspent seed money 
contributions. A certified candidate must comply with all requirements of this Act after 
certification and throughout the primary and general election periods. Failure to do so is 
a violation of this chapter. 
Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§5-A is enacted to read: 
5-A. Revocation of certification. The certification of a participating candidate may 
I I 
be revoked at any time if the commission determines that the candidate or an agent of the 
candidate: 
A. Did not submit the required number of valid qualifying contributions; 
B. Failed to qualify as a candidate by petition or other means provided by chapter 5; 
IS 
C. 
Submitted fraudulent qualifying contributions or qualifying contributions that 
were not made by the contributor named on the acknowledgment required by section 
1122, subsection 7; 
D. 
Misrepresented to a contributor the nature and purpose of the qualifying 
contribution or the reason for obtaining a contributor's signature on the receipt and 
acknowledgement form; 
E. Failed to fully comply with the seed money restrictions; 
F. Knowingly accepted contributions, including in-kind contributions, or used funds 
other than fund revenues distributed under this chapter to make campaign-related 
expenditures without the permission of the commission; 
G. Knowingly made a false statement or material misrepresentation in any report or 
other document required to be filed under this chapter or chapter 13; or 
H. Otherwise violated the provisions ofthis chapter or chapter 13. 
When the commission has reason to believe that a violation of this subsection has 
occurred, the commission shall provide written notice to the certified candidate and 
afford that candidate an opportunity for a hearing before the commission. 
The 
commission may revoke the certification of a candidate by a majority vote of the 
members of the commission. The participating candidate may appeal the decision of the 
commission as provided in subsection IS. A candidate whose certification is revoked by 
the commission must return all unspent funds to the commission within 3 days of the 
commission's revocation decision or appeal the decision of the commission. 
The 
commission mav require the candidate to reimburse other funds distributed by the 
commission. The candidate may appeal the commission's decision to revoke certification 
in the same manner provided in subsection 14, paragraph C. 
Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §1126, as enacted by IE 1995, c. I, §17 and as amended by 
PL 2001, c. 465, §7, is further amended to read: 
§1126. Commission to adopt rules 
The commission shaH adopt rules to ensure effective administration of this chapter. 
These rules must include but must not be limited to procedures for obtaining qualifying 
contributions, certification as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate, circumstances 
involving special elections, vacancies, recounts, withdrawals or replacements, collection 
of revenues for the fund, distribution of fund revenue to certified candidates, return of 
unspent fund disbursements, disposition of equipment purchased with clean election 
funds and compliance with the Maine Clean Election Act. 
Rules of the commission 
required by this section are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, 
I 0 
subchapter II A. 
II 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the Maine Clean Election Act by increasing the number of 
qualifying contributions required of a gubernatorial candidate for certification from 2,500 
to 3,250 and requiring that candidate to raise at least $15,000 in seed money. The bill 
IS 
amends the definition of a qualifying contribution to state that the $5 donation may be 
made to only one candidate seeking the gubernatorial election or one candidate in a 
particular legislative election. 
The bill extends the authority to certify candidates as 
Maine Clean Election Act candidates to the executive director of the Commission on 
Governmental Ethics and Election Practices. 
This bill adds to the requirements for 
certification and provides for circumstances under which the commission or its executive 
director may revoke certification of a Maine Clean Election Act candidate and require the 
return of Maine Clean Election Act funds. 
Finally, this bill removes language 
designating rules adopted under the Maine Clean Election Act as major substantive rules.