An Act To
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1726
Committee Amendment CA_B_H684 (House)
Amends: 21-A MRSA §682, 21-A MRSA §903-E, 21-A MRSA §905-A, 28-A MRSA §121, 30-A MRSA §2528

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "t" to H.P. 1206, L.D. 1726, Bill, "An Act To 
Amend the Laws Governing Elections" 
Amend the bill by strildng out all of sections 11 to 16 and inserting the following: 
1Sec. 11. 21-A MRSA §682, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2005, c. 568, §14, is 
further amended to read: 
2. Influence prohibited. On public property within 250 feet of the entrance to the 
voting place as well as within the voting place itself, a person may not: 
A. Influence another person's decision regarding a candidate or question that is on 
the ballot for the election that day; or 
B. Attempt to influence another person's decision regarding a candidate or question 
that is on the ballot for the election that day. 
These limitations do not prohibit a candidate from attending the voting place and orally 
communicating with voters as long as the candidate does not attempt to influence their 
vote and has l?reviously notified the clerk of the candidate's intention to be t?resent at the 
voting place. A candidate may not state the name of the office sought or request a 
person's vote. A candidate may not permit more than one person to attend the voting 
place on that candidate's behalf for the purpose of communicating with voters in 
accordance with this subsection. A person attending the voting place on behalf of a 
candidate must provide advance notice to the clerk in the same manner as the candidate. 
Sec. 12. 21-A MRSA §682, sub-§2-B is enacted to read: 
2-B. Collection of signatures. This subsection governs the collection of signatures 
at the voting place. 
A. The warden may not permit the collection of signatures inside the voting place 
unless in a room or space of the premises of the voting place that has a separate 
access point distinct from the area of the premises where voting occurs and there is 
otherwise complete nonaccess between the 2 areas. 
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COMM:ITTEE AMENDMENT ,{J "to H.P. 1206, L.D. 1726 
B. The warden may permit the collection of signatures outside the voting place at the 
point of egress, if separate from the point of entry to the voting place. If the point of 
entry and egress are the same, a person collecting signatures may not be within 20 
feet of the point of egress. 
C. The warden shall limit the number of issues, measures or candidates for which 
signatures are being collected to a total of 5. 
· 
D. The warden shall limit the number of persons collecting signatures for any one 
issue, meas:i;rre or candidate to 2. 
E. 
The warden may not prohibit the presence of persons who oppose the issue, 
measure or candidate for which signatures are being collected unless the number of 
persons opposing the issue, measure or candidate exceeds the number of persons 
collecting signatures for that issue, measure or candidate. 
· 
F. 
Persons who intend to collect signatures at or outside the voting place in 
accordance with this subsection and persons who will attend to oppose the collection 
of signatures shall provide advance notice to the clerk of their intent to be present at 
the voting place. 
G. Upon notice of a person1s intent to collect signatures at or outside the voting 
place, the clerk shall provide informational materials to that person describing the 
laws governing the collection of signatures at or outside the voting place. 
H. Nothing in this subsection requires the warden or clerk to provide tables, chairs or 
other equipment to facilitate the collection of signatures at or outside the voting 
place. 1 
Amend the bill by striking out all of sections 19 and 20 and inserting the following: 
1Sec. 19. 21-A MRSA §903-E is enacted to read: 
§903-E. Persons not authorized to administer an oath or affirmation to a petition 
circulator 
1. Certain notaries public and others. A notaty public or other person authorized 
by law to administer oaths or affirmations generally is not authorized to administer an 
oath or affirmation to the circulator of a petition under section 902: 
A. If providing any other services, regardless of compensation, to initiate a direct 
initiative of legislation or people1s veto referendum for which the petitions are being 
circulated. For the pm:poses of this paragraph, 
11initiate
has the same meaning as in 
section 1052, subsection 4-B; or 
B. If providing services, regardless of compensation, to promote a direct initiative of 
legislation or people1s veto referendum. 
Sec. 20. 21-A MRSA §905-A, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 234, §6, is amended to 
read: 
§905-A. Public comment on initiative questions 
No later than 10 business days after the Legislature adjourns sine die, the Secretary of 
State shall give public notice of a proposed ballot question for any initiative that will be 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT .. g" to H.P .. 1206, L.D. 1726 
submitted to the voters at the next statewide election or special election by posting all 
proposed ballot questions on the Secretary of State's publicly accessible website. The 
Secretary of State may also publish notice for one day in newspapers having general 
circulation in the State. After giving public notice of a proposed ballot question in 
accordance with this section, except as otherwise provided in this section, the Secretary 
of State shall provide a 30-day public comment period for the purpose of receiving 
comments on the content and form of proposed questions to be placed on the ballot for 
any pending initiatives. 
No later than 10 days after receiving public comments in 
accordance with this section and after review of those comments, the Secretary of State 
shall write the ballot question for any pending initiative. If the Secretary of State 
determines that the date upon which the Legislature adjourns sine die and the 
requirements of this section are likely to interfere with the timely printing of ballots as 
required by this Title, the public comment period may be reduced to a period of not less 
than 21 days.' 
Amend the bill by inserting after section 21 the following: 
'Sec. 22. 28-A MRSA §121, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1993, c. 608, §2, is 
further amended to read: 
1. Petition. A petition for a local option election must be signed by a number of 
voters equal to at least 15% of the number of votes cast in that municipality in the last 
gubernatorial election. 
All petition signatures must have been signed since the last 
general election. 
The petition must be addressed to and received by the municipal 
officers at least 4$- 60 days before holding any primary, special statewide, general or 
municipal election or town meeting.' 
Amend the bill by inserting after section 22 the following: 
'Sec. 23. 30-A MRSA §2528, sub-§4, ~, as amended by PL 1993, c. 608, §6, is 
further amended to read: 
D. A nomination paper or a certificate of political caucus nomination that complies 
with this section is valid unless a written objection to it is made to the municipal 
officers by the 4Jf4 58th day prior to election day. 
(1) If an objection is made, the clerk shall immediately notify the candidate 
affected by it. 
(2) 
The municipal officers shall dete1mine objections arising in the case of 
nominations. Their decision is final. 
Sec. 24. 30-A MRSA §2528, sub-§6-A, ,r,rA and B, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 
608, §8, are amended to read: 
A. A candidate may withdraw from an elective race by notifying the municipal clerk 
in writing of the candidate's intent to withdraw and the reason for withdrawal at least 
4& 60 days before the election. This notice must be signed by the candidate and must 
be notarized. 
B. Within the 4-&-day 60-day period before an election, the municipal clerk may 
allow a candidate to withdraw from an elective race. A candidate who requests to 
withdraw within the 4-&-eay 60-day period before an election shall notify the 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT .. g "to H.P. 1206, L.D. 1726 
municipal clerk in writing of the candidate1s intent to withdraw and the reason for 
withdrawal. This notice must be signed by the candidate and must be notarized. 1 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment, which is the minority report of the committee, removes the 
provision in the bill that repeals the laws governing political activities at the voting place 
and instead amends those laws. The amendment limits to one person the number of 
people who may attend a voting place on behalf of a candidate to communicate with 
voters in the manner permitted under existing law. It provides that a person collecting 
signatures must do so outside of the voting place unless there is a separate room on the 
premises of the voting place that is not accessible from the area where voting occurs. It 
limits the number of signature collectors on any one measure, issue or candidate to 2 and 
states that no more that 2 persons who oppose that measure, issue or candidate for which 
signatures are being collected may be afforded access to the area. It limits the total 
number of measures, issues or candidates for which signatures may be collected to 5. 
The amendment removes a provision in the bill that permits the deposit of absentee 
ballots into a secured drop box accessible only by the municipal election clerk. It also 
removes a section in the bill that makes changes to the laws governing when a notary 
public or other person authorized to administer oaths is prohibited from administering an 
oath on a petition for a direct initiative of legislation or people's veto referendum and 
replaces it with a new section. The new section provides that a notary public or other 
person authorized by law to administer oaths is not authorized to administer an oath for a 
direct initiative of legislation or people's veto referendum petition if that person has 
provided services to initiate the measure or promote that direct initiative of legislation or 
people's veto referendum. 
Finally, the amendment makes changes to the deadlines 
governing submission of municipal official candidate nomination papers, municipal 
candidate withdrawals and petitions for local option votes on the sale of liquor. These 
deadline changes make those provisions consistent with other deadlines enacted for 
similar submissions under Public Law 2017, chapter 248. 
The fiscal note on the amendment identifies a requirement that municipal election 
clerks provide informational materials to petition circulators describing the laws 
governing the solicitation of signatures at the voting place. This requirement does not 
necessarily require the development of new materials, as a copy of relevant statutory 
sections governing solicitation of signatures at the voting place sufficiently satisfies the 
requirement. 
A municipality may choose to provide inf 01mational materials of the 
municipality1s own creation but that is an optional method of compliance. Thus, the 
members of the committee on this report find that the provisions identified as a potential 
mandate do not necessitate additional expenditures from local revenue. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
State Mandates 
Revised: 03/15/18 feac 
LD 1726 
LR 2669(03) 
An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Elections 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment et1-bt~ 
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Potential State Mandate - Unfunded 
Required Activity 
Unit Affected 
Local Cost 
Requires election clerks to develop and provide infom1ational materials to 
Municipality 
Moderate 
circulators of petitions describing the laws governing the collection of signatures at 
statewide 
or outside polling places. This assumes the materials are not developed and 
provided to the clerks by the Secretary of State. 
The required local activities in this bill may represent a state mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine. If the bill 
does require a local unit of government to expand or modify its activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures 
from local revenue, the state mandate provisions of the Constitution of Maine require either: (1) General Fund 
appropriations be provided to fund at least 90% of any additional necessitated local costs of the mandate; or (2) a 
Mandate Preamble be added to the bill and two-thirds of the members of each House vote to exempt the mandate from 
the funding requirement. If the bill does represent a state mandate and neither one of these actions occurs, the local 
units of government will not be required to implement the mandated activities. 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Additional costs to the Department of Secretary of State associated with this legislation can be absorbed within 
existing budgeted resources. 
LR2669(03) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1