An Act To Establish a Recall Procedure for Elected Officials Reference to the Corrni1ittee on Legal and Veterans Affairs suggested and ordered printed.
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1112
Sponsors: JOY, AYOTTE, GIFFORD, SAVIELLO, THOMAS, SHERMAN

FIRST REGULARSESSION-2009 
Legislative Document 
No. 1112 
H.P: 767 
House of Representatives, March 20,2009 
An Act To Establish a Recall Procedure for Elected Officials 
Reference to the Corrni1ittee on Legal and Veterans Affairs suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative JOY of Crystal. 
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1/1· /ll!LC:1~{ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Cosponsored by Representatives: AYOTTE of Caswell, GIFFORD of Lincoln, McFADDEN 
of Dennysville, SAVIELLO of Wilton, THOMAS of Ripley, Senator: SHERMAN of 
Aroostook. 
Pl'inlcd tlll n:t.:,\'dcd prLflt!r 
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Be it enacted by the People of the state of Maine as follows: 
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Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA c. 17 is enacted to read: 
CHAPTER 17 
MC~L 
§1301. Recall 
Every elected official in the State is subject to recall by the voters of the district in 
which the official is elected as provided in this chapter. A petition for recall may not be 
filed agairist an elected official until the elected official has actually performed the duties 
' of the office to which elected for a period of 6 months during the current term of that 
office. A petition may not be filed against an' elected official during the last 6 months of 
the official's term of office. An elected official sought to be recalled shall continue to 
perform duties of the office until the result ofthe'recall election is certified. 
§1302. Recail petition; number of signatures 
A petition to recall an elected official must be signed by a number of voters equal to 
not less than 10% of the number of vote's cast for candidates for that office at the last 
preceding election in the electoral district of the elected official sought to be recalled. 
§1303. Recall of senators, representatives, elected state officials or county officials; 
filing petitions 
A petition ';"iththe signatures requir~d under seCtion 1302 d€:manding therecall of a 
United States Senator, a Representative to Congress, a State Senator, a' State 
Representative or a county official except a county commissioner must be filed with the 
Secretary of State. 
§1304. Recall of elected county commissioner or municipal official; filing' petition 
A petition with the signatures required under section 1302 demanding the recall of an 
elected county commissioner or municipal officer must be filed with the county clerk of 
the county in which the largest portion of the registered voters in the electoral district 
reside. 
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§1305. Sufficiency or insufficiency of recall petition; determination; notice; special 
election 
1. Determination of sufficiency. Within 35 deWS after the filing of a recall petition 
under this chapter, the filing official. with whom the recall petition is filed . shall make an 
official declaration of the sufficiency or insufficiency of the petition. If the recall petition ' 
is determined to be insufficient, the filing official shall notify the person or organization 
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sponsoring the, recall of the insufficiency of the petition. It is not necessary to give 
notification unless the person or organization sponsoring the recall files with the filing 
official a written notice of sponsorship and a mailin~ address. 
Pagel - 124LR1850(Ol)-1 
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, 2. Calling of recall election. Inmiediately upon detennininl! pursuant to subsection 
that a petition is sufficient, bilt not later than 35 days after the date of filing the petition,' 
the filing Dfficial with whom the petition is filed shall call a recall election to determine 
whether the voters will recall the official whose recall is sought. The election must be 
held on the next regular election date that is not less than 95 days after the date the 
petition is filed. 
§1306. Recall election procedure 
The procedure governing a recall election under this chapter is the same, so far as 
possible and unless otherwise provided in rules adopted implementing this chapter, as 
that by which the relevant elected official was elected to office. If the filing official with 
whom the petition is filed is not required to give public notice of an election concerning 
the office in . question, the filing official shall give notice to the official or officials 
required by law to give public notice of the election, cause the ballots to be printed, 
provide election supplies and do all things necessary to conduct the election in the 
manner provided iil this chapter. Fewer precinct election officials than the number 
otherwise required under the law may be assigned to duty if it appears that the votes to be 
cast will not necessitate the number of precinct election officials otherwise so required. 
§1307. Recall of elected official; vacancy 
After the recall election held pursuant to section 1306, if the results support the recall 
of the elected official, the official empowered by law to perfonn the duties of that 
recalled official in the event of that official's absence, death, illness or inability to. act 
shall perfonn and discharge the duties of the office vacated until the successor to fill the 
vacancy is duly elected and qualified. If the power to fill a vacancy by appointment 
exists, the office must be filled in the same manner by temporary appointment until a 
successor is duly elected and qualified: If there is· no official empowered by law to· 
perfonn the duties of the' recalled official and there is no existing power to fill the 
vacancy by appointment, the Governor may fill the vacancy until the recalled official's 
successor is elected and qualified. 
§1308. Rulemaldng 
The Secretary of State shall adopt rules implementing this chapter. Rules adopted 
pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as dermed in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A. 
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SUMMARY 
This bill establishes a recall procedure for federal, state and local elected officials ..