An Act To Clarify Statutes Related to Establishing a Municipal Charter Commission
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1128
Committee: State and Local Government
Sponsors: CLAXTON, BREEN
Amends: 30-A MRSA §2102

Legislative Document
No. 1128
S.P. 348
In Senate, March 7, 2019
An Act To Clarify Statutes Related to Establishing a Municipal 
Charter Commission
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator CLAXTON of Androscoggin.
Cosponsored by Senator: BREEN of Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  30-A MRSA §2102, sub-§3, ¶B, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 
and Pt. C, §106 and amended by PL 1989, c. 6; c. 9, §2; and c. 104, Pt. C, §§8 and 10, is 
further amended to read:
B.  The municipal clerk shall prepare the petition forms at the municipality's expense.  
The petition forms shall must be printed on paper of uniform size and may consist of 
as many individual sheets as are reasonably necessary. 
(1)  Petition forms shall must carry the following legend in bold lettering at the 
top of the face of each form.
"Municipality of ...."
In the instance of preparing a new charter, the lettering at the top of the form 
must read:  "Each of the undersigned voters respectfully requests the 
municipal officers to establish a Charter Commission for the purpose of 
revising the Municipal Charter or preparing a New Municipal Charter."
In the instance of revising a charter, the lettering at the top of the form must 
read:  "Each of the undersigned voters respectfully requests the municipal 
officers to establish a Charter Commission for the purpose of revising the 
Municipal Charter."
Each signature to a petition must be in ink or other indelible instrument and must 
be followed by the residence of the voter with street and number, if any.  No A 
petition may not contain any party or political designation.
(2)  The clerk shall note the date of each petition form issued.  All petitions must 
be filed within 120 days of the date of issue or they are void.
(3)  Each petition form shall must have printed on its back an affidavit to be 
executed by the circulator, stating:
(a)  That the circulator personally circulated the form;
(b)  The number of signatures on the form;
(c)  That all the signatures were signed in the circulator's presence;
(d)  That the circulator believes them to be genuine signatures of the persons 
whose names they purport to be;
(e)  That each signer has signed no more than one petition; and
(f)  That each signer had an opportunity to read the petition before signing.
Sec. 2.  30-A MRSA §2102, sub-§5, ¶A, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 
and Pt. C, §106 and amended by PL 1989, c. 6; c. 9, §2; and c. 104, Pt. C, §§8 and 10, is 
further amended to read:
A.  The question to be submitted to the voters shall must be in substance as follows:
"Shall a Charter Commission be established for the purpose of revising the 
Municipal Charter or establishing a New Municipal Charter?"
In the instance of establishing a new charter, the question must read:  "Shall a 
Charter Commission be established for the purpose of establishing a New 
Municipal Charter?"
In the instance of revising a charter, the question must read:  "Shall a Charter 
Commission be established for the purpose of revising the Municipal Charter?"
SUMMARY
This bill clarifies that a petition to form a charter commission to establish a new 
municipal charter uses different language than a petition to form a charter commission to 
revise a charter.