An Act To Amend the Maine Clean Election Laws Governing Gubernatorial Candidates Reference to the Committey on Legal and Veterans Affairs suggested and ordered printed.
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1380
Sponsors: PINGREE, MITCHELL, CAREY, FITTS, TRINW ARD, TUTTLE, GOOLEY, PLOWMAN, SULLIVAN
Amends: 21-A MRSA §1122, 21-A MRSA §1125

FIRST REGULAR SESSlor~-2009 
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Legislative Document 
No. 1380 
H.P.970 
House of Representatives, April 2, 2009 
An Act To Amend the Maine Clean Election Laws Governing 
Gubernatorial Candidates 
Reference to the Committey on Legal and Veterans Affairs suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Speaker PINGREE of North Haven. 
Cosponsored by President MITCHELL of Kennebec and 
17/A-~ 1n.1l!IiC~{ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: CAREY of Lewiston, CORNELL duHOUX of Bnmswick, FITTS of 
Pittsfield, TRINW ARD of Waterville, TUTTLE of Sanford, Senators: GOOLEY of Franklin, 
PLOWMAN of Penobscot, SULLIVAN of York. 
Printed Llll recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec .. 1. 21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2001, c. 465, §3, is 
further amended to read: 
8. Qualifying period. "Qualifying period" means the following. 
A. 
For a. gubernatorial participating candidate, the qualifying period begins 
November 1 st immediately preceding the. election· year and ends at 5 :00 p.m. on April 
15th of the election year unless the candidate is unenrolled, in which case the period . 
ends at 5:00 p.m. on June 2nd of the election year. 
B. 
For State Senate or State House of Representatives participating candidates, the 
qualifying period begins January 1st of the election year and ends at 5:00 p.m. on 
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April 15th of that election year unless the candidate is unenrolled. in v.'luch case the 
period ends at 5:00 p.m. on June 2nd of the election year. 
Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§2, c;rA, as enacted by ill 1995, c. I, §17, is 
amended to read: 
A. Fifty Three hundred thousand dollars for a gubernatorial candidate; 
Sec. 3. 21-A MRS A §1125, sub,..§2-B is enacted to read: 
2-B. 
Seed money required for gubernatorial candidatesjdocumentation. 
Gubernatorial candidates seeking certification are required to submit the following to the .. 
commission in order to satisfy the seed money requirement prescribed in section 1125, 
subsection 5, paragraph C-1 : 
A. A contribution acknowledgement form, determined by the cOmrrllssion, to be 
completed by each person that contributes seed money that includes the name, 
residence address, mailing address, telephone number and a signature of the person 
making the seed money contribution acknowledging that the contribution was made 
with the person's personal funds and will not be reimbursed by any source. 
B. A list of the seed money contributions, including the date and amount of the 
contribution, the name, residence address, mailing address, telephone number of the 
contributor and any other information determined necessary by the commission. 
C. For seed money contributions received by check or money order, photocopies of 
the check or money order. 
D. For seed money contributions received by debit or credit card, a bank or merchant 
account statement that contains the cardholder's name and that otherwise meets 
requirements specified by the commission in order to verify compliance with section 
1125, subsection 5, paragraph C-l. 
The commission may permit the submission of an online acknowledgement form as 
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required by paragraph A for seed money contributions made via the Internet. 
Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§5, c;rC-l is enacted to read: 
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C-l. 
As a gubernatorial candidate, collected at least $40,000 in seed. money 
contributions from registered voters in the State; 
Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§5-A, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 443, Pt. B, §6, 
is amended to read: 
5-A. Revocation of certification. The certification of a participating candidate may 
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; 
C. Submitted any fraudulent qualifying contributions or qualifying contributions that 
were not made by the named contributor; 
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D. Misrepresented to a contributor the purpose of the qualifying contribution or 
obtaining the contributor's signature on the receipt and acknowledgement form; 
E. Failed to fully comply with the seed money restrictions; 
F. Knowingly accepted any contributions, including any in-kind contributions, or 
used funds other than fund revenues distributed under this chapter to make campaign-
related expenditures without the permission of the coIl1lllission; 
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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; sF 
H. Otherwise substantially violated the provisions of this chapter or chapter n,.~ 
1. 
As a gubernatorial candidate, failed to properly report seed money contributions 
as required by this section. 
The determination to revoke the certification of a candidate must be made by a vote of the 
members of the commission after an opportunity for a hearing. 
A candidate whose 
certification is revoked shall return all unSpent funds to the commission within 3 days of 
the commission's decision and may be required to return all funds distributed to the 
candidate. In addition to the requirement to return funds, the candidate may be subject to 
a civil penalty under section 1127. The candidate may appeal the commission's decision 
to revoke certification in the same manner provided in subsection 14, paragraph C. 
Sec. 6. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§8, ~, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 453, §1, is 
amended to read: 
E. 
For gubernatorial primary elections, the amount of revenues distributed IS 
$200,000 $400,000 per candidate in the primary election. 
Sec. 7. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§9, as amended by PL 2007, c. 443, Pt. B, §6, is 
further amended to read: 
9. Matching funds. When any report required under this chapter or chapter 13 
shows that the sum of a candidate's expenditures or obligations, contributions and loans, 
or fund revenues received, whichever is greater, in conjunction with independent 
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expenditures reported under section 10 19-B, exceeds the sum of an opposing certified 
candidate's fund revenues, in conjunction with independent expenditures, the commission 
shall issue immediately to the opposing certified candidate an additional amount 
equivalent to the difference. Matching funds for certified candidates for the Legislature 
are limited to 2 times the amount originally distributed under subsection 8, paragraph A 
or C, whichever is applicable. Matching funds for certified gubernatorial candidates in a 
primary election are limited to 2 times the amount originally distributed under subsection 
8, paragraph E. 
Matching funds for certified gubernatorial candidates in a general 
election are limited to the amount originally distributed under subsection 8, paragraph F. 
SUMMARY 
This bill changes the requirements for a gubernatorial candidate who wishes to run 
for Governor as a participating candidate. in the Maine Clean Election Act. This bill 
removes. the extended qualifying period for unerirolled candidates seeking to certify as 
participating candidates. It requires the collection of at least $40,000 in seed money 
contributions from registered voters in the State and requires that each seed money 
contributor fill out a contribution aclmowledgment fohn that, along with other 
information, states that the coritributor made the contribution using personal funds and 
will not be reimbursed by any source. It allows a gubernatorial candidate to collect up to 
$300,000 in seed money. 
Current law limits seed money to $50,000. The bill also 
provides that failure to properly report seed money contributions may result in revocation 
of the candidate's certification as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate. 
The bill 
changes the distribution amount for primary election funds to gubernatorial candidates to 
$400,000 for each election. 
The bill- also limits matching funds distributed to 
gUbernatorial candidates.to $400,000 instead of twice that amount. 
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