An Act To Establish a People's Veto Process for Actions of County Commissioners
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 0082
Committee: State and Local Government
Sponsors: THOMAS, JOHNSON, SAVIELLO, BLACK, DOAK, GIFFORD, GRAHAM, JACKSON

Legislative Document 
No. 82 
S.P. 33 
In Senate, January 22, 2013 
An Act To Establish a People's Veto Process for Actions of County 
Commissioners 
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed. 
DAREK M. GRANT 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator THOMAS of Somerset. 
Cosponsored by Representative JOHNSON of Greenville and 
Senator: SAVIELLO of Franklin, Representatives: BLACK of Wilton, DOAK of Columbia 
Falls, GIFFORD of Lincoln, GRAHAM of North Yarmouth, JACKSON of Oxford. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  30-A MRSA c. 1, sub-c. 2, art. 7 is enacted to read: 
ARTICLE 7 
PEOPLE'S VETO 
§131.  People's veto of county commissioners' actions 
Notwithstanding section 102, a vote of the county commissioners may be overturned 
by a people's veto pursuant to this article. 
1.  Petition.  On the written petition pursuant to subsection 5 of a number of voters 
equal to at least 5% of the number of votes cast in the county at the last gubernatorial 
election, an election must be held to determine whether a vote by the county 
commissioners is vetoed or upheld. 
2.  Notice of intention within 5 days.  In order to initiate a people's veto under 
subsection 1, the initiator of the petition shall file a notice of intention to overturn a vote 
of the county commissioners with the county clerk within 5 days of that vote.  A notice of 
intention under this subsection must include a description of the vote subject to veto.   
Only a person registered to vote in the county may file a notice of intention under this 
subsection. 
3.  Petition forms.  Within 3 business days of receipt of a notice of intention under 
subsection 2, the county clerk shall prepare petition forms for the collection of signatures 
under subsection 4 and send notice to the initiator of the petition under subsection 2 that 
the petition forms are available.  The county may charge the initiator of the petition a 
reasonable fee for preparing and providing the petition forms under this subsection.  A 
petition form under this subsection must include: 
A.  At the top of the form, a description of the vote subject to veto, the name and 
contact information of the initiator of the petition and the date by which the 
signatures must be submitted to the county clerk under subsection 4; 
B.  Spaces for each voter's signature, actual street address and printed name; and 
C.  Space at the bottom of the form for the name, address and signature of the person 
circulating the petition form. 
4.  Collection and submission of signatures.  A petition form under subsection 3 
may be circulated or signed only by a registered voter of the county.  A circulator of a 
petition form shall fill in the information required under subsection 3, paragraph C and 
sign the form prior to submission of the form to the county clerk.  The initiator of the 
petition under subsection 2 shall collect the petition forms from all circulators and submit 
the signed petition forms to the county clerk within 30 days of receipt of notice from the 
county clerk that the petition forms are available under subsection 3.  A county clerk may 
not accept a petition form submitted more than 30 days after sending notice of availability 
to the initiator under subsection 3, and any voter signatures on that form are invalid. 
5.  Petition certification and notification.  Within 7 business days of receiving 
petition forms under subsection 4, the county clerk shall determine whether the petition 
forms meet the criteria under subsection 4 and certify the validity of any signatures on the 
petition forms. If the county clerk finds that the number of valid signatures submitted 
under subsection 4 meets or exceeds the requirements under subsection 1, the county 
clerk shall certify the petition and immediately send notification of the certification to the 
county commissioners.  If the county clerk finds the number of valid signatures submitted 
under subsection 4 does not meet the requirements for a petition under subsection 1, the 
county clerk shall file the petition and the petition forms in the county clerk's office and 
notify the initiator of the petition. 
6.  Effect of petition certification.  Certification of the petition under subsection 5 
results in the immediate suspension of the county commissioners' vote at issue in the 
people's veto election.  If the vote is related to the county budget or a particular item of 
the budget, the county shall operate on an interim budget for the county budget or for that 
particular item of the county budget that  may not exceed the previous year's budget. 
7.  Scheduling people's veto election.  Within 10 business days of certification of 
the petition under subsection 5, the county commissioners shall schedule an election to 
determine whether the vote of the county commissioners is vetoed or upheld.  The 
election must be held no fewer than 45 days nor more than 75 days after certification of 
the petition under subsection 5 unless a regular county election is scheduled to be held 
within 90 days of the certification of the petition under subsection 5, in which case the 
people's veto election must be held on the date of the regular county election.  If the 
county commissioners fail to schedule a people's veto election within 10 days of 
certification of the petition under subsection 5, the county clerk shall schedule the 
people's veto election pursuant to the date requirements of this subsection. 
8.  Ballots for people's veto election.  If the vote of the county commissioners that is 
the subject of the people's veto petition is not reversed by the county commissioners 
within 10 business days of certification of the petition under subsection 5, the ballots for 
the people's veto election under subsection 7 must be printed.  A ballot for a people's veto 
election under this section must read: 
"County of ................... 
Are you in favor of vetoing the decision of the county commissioners to (description 
of the vote)? 
(  ) Yes   (  ) No" 
9.  Results of people's veto election.  Within 2 business days of a people's veto 
election under subsection 7, the county clerk shall certify and record the election results 
and notify the county commissioners of those results.  If a majority of voters vote to veto 
the vote of the county commissioners, the veto takes effect on the date the election results 
are recorded pursuant to this subsection.  If a majority of voters vote against vetoing the 
vote of the county commissioners, the county commissioners' vote takes effect on the date 
the election results are recorded pursuant to this subsection. 
SUMMARY 
This bill establishes a people's veto process for the actions of county commissioners.  
The process allows 5 days for a notice of intention to be filed with the county clerk and 
days to collect signatures.  The number of signatures must be equal to no less than 5% 
of the total votes cast in the county at the last gubernatorial election.  Once the petition is 
certified by the county clerk, the action that was the subject of the county commissioners' 
vote must be suspended until a countywide election is held.  If the action that was the 
subject of the county commissioners' vote is budget-related, an interim budget that is 
equal to the previous year's budget goes into effect until a countywide election is held.  If 
the majority of voters cast their vote in opposition to the veto, the action that was the 
subject of the county commissioners' vote takes effect.