An Act To Establish Open Primaries for Certain Federal and State Offices
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0114
Committee Amendment CA_A_H311 (House)
Amends: 21-A MRSA §354, 21-A MRSA §1122, 21-A MRSA §1125

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT «//," to H.P. 96, L.D. 114, Bill, "An Act To 
Establish Open Primaries for Certain Federal and State Offices" 
Amend the bill by inserting after section 10 the following: 
'Sec. 11. 21-A MRSA §354, sub-§5, as amended by PL 1991, c. 362, §§2 and 3, 
is further amended to read: 
5. Number of signatures required. Nomination petitions must be signed by the 
following numbers of voters: 
A. For a slate of candidates for the office of presidential elector, at least 4,000 and 
not more than 6,000 voters; 
B. For a candidate for Governor, at least 4,()00 2,000 and not more than 6-,000 3,000 
voters; 
C. For a candidate for United States Senator, at least 4,000 2,000 and not more than 
6-,000 3,000 voters; 
D. For a candidate for United States Representative, at least :2,000 1,000 and not 
more than~ 1,500 voters; 
E. For a candidate for county office other than county commissioner or county 
charter commission member, at least 300 and not more than 400 voters; 
E-1. For a candidate for county commissioner, at least 100 and not more than 150 
voters; 
F. For a candidate for State Senator, at least~ 100 and not more than ;;oo 150 
voters; 
G. For a candidate for State Representative, at least $0 25 and not more than .W 40 
voters; and 
H. For a candidate for county charter commission member, at least 50 and not more 
than 80 voters .1 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
'f90MMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to H.P. 96, L.D. 114 
Amend the bill in section 19 in §374-A in subsection 4 in the 2nd to the last line 
(page 6, line 6 in L.D.) by striking out the following: 
11that
and inserting the following: 
'who' 
Amend the bill in section 19 in §374-A in subsection 4 in the last line (page 6, line 7 
in L.D.) by inserting after the following: "any." the following: 'If the candidate who 
received the 3rd most votes is unable or unwilling to be listed as a candidate on the 
general election ballot, the Secretaiy of State shall list as a replacement candidate the 
name of the candidate who received the next most votes cast in the open primary election 
as determined by section 723-A who is willing and able to be listed as a candidate on the 
general election ballot, if any. If no remaining candidate for whom a vote was cast in the 
open primary is willing and able to be listed as a candidate on the general election ballot, 
notwithstanding section 601, subsection 2, paragraph D, the Secretary of State shall place 
a blank space on the ballot that may be used by a voter to write in the name of a person 
for whom the voter desires to vote, as provided in section 692, subsection 2.' 
Amend the bill in section 27 in subsection 1-B in the last line (page 9, line 15 in L.D.) 
by inserting after the following: "primary" the following: 'except as provided in section 
374-A, subsection 4' 
Amend the bill by inserting after section 32 the following: 
'Sec. 33. 21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§8, 1A, as amended by PL 2009, c. 363, §1, is 
further amended to read: 
A. For a gubernatorial participating candidate, the qualifying period begins October 
15th immediately preceding the election year and ends at 5:00 p.m. on April +st 20th 
of the that election year or on the next business day following April 20th if the office 
of the commission is closed on April 20th. 
Sec. 34. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§10, as amended by IB 2015, c. 1, §26, is 
repealed. 
Sec. 35. Appropl'iations and allocations. The following appropriations and 
allocations are made. 
SECRETARY OF STATE, DEPARTMENT OF 
Bureau of Administrative Services and Corporations 0692 
Initiative: Provides funding for additional ballot printing and postage costs in order to 
hold open primaries for certain state and federal offices. 
GENERAL FUND 
All Other 
GENERAL FUND TOTAL 
2019-20 
$250,000 
$250,000 
2020-21 
$0 
$0 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
~,;COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "fi" to H.P. 96, L.D. 114 
SUMMARY 
This amendment, which is the minority report of the committee, makes the following 
changes to the election laws to implement the open primary election procedure authorized 
in the bill. 
1. It reduces the number of candidate petition signatures that an unenrolled candidate 
for the office of United States Senator, United States Representative, Governor, State 
Senator or State Representative must obtain to be placed on the open primary ballot to 
match the number of petition signatures that a party candidate for the same office must 
obtain to be placed on the open primary ballot. 
2. It authorizes an unenrolled candidate who is certified for participation under the 
Maine Clean Election Act and who participates in a contested open primary election to 
receive the same amount of distributions from the Maine Clean Election Fund that a 
certified party candidate receives for participation in the same contested open primary 
election. 
3. If one of the 2 candidates who received the most votes at the open primary, as 
determined by ranked-choice voting, withdraws from the race at least 70 days before the 
general election, it directs the Secretary of State to replace that candidate on the general 
election ballot with the candidate who received the next most votes in the open primary 
who is willing and able to appear on the general election ballot. If no candidate meets 
these criteria, the amendment directs the Secretary of State to place a blank space on the 
general election ballot that may be used by a voter to vote for a write-in candidate. 
4. It makes a technical change to the deadlines for candidate certification under the 
Maine Clean Election Act. 
5. It adds an appropriations and allocations section. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 05/08/19 feac:.. 
LD 114 
LR 189(02) 
An Act To Establish Open Primaries for Certain Federal and State Offices 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment '~' {fl' 3/J) 
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
FY 2019-20 
FY 2020-21 
Projections 
FY 2021-22 
Projections 
FY2022-23 
Net Cost (Savings) 
General Fund 
Appropriations/Allocations 
General Fund 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
$250,000 
$250,000 
$0 
$250,000 
$0 
$0 
$250,000 
$0 
The bill provides for open primary elections for certain state and federal offices. The bill includes a General Fund 
appropriation of $250,000 to the Department of Secretary of State in fiscal year 2019-20 for additional ballot printing 
and postage costs. 
The bill also extends the end of the qualifying period for certification of Maine Clean Election Act candidates from 
April 1 to April 20th. In non-gubernatorial election years this date change will have no fiscal impact on the 
Commission for Governmental Ethics and Election Practices (CGEEP). However, the CGEEP has indicated that in 
gubernatorial election years additional temporary staffing may be required to accommodate the additional workload 
of concunently certifying gubernatorial and legislative candidates. The CGEEP has indicated that the Maine Clean 
Election Fund is forecasted to have sufficient resources to fund the cost of the temporary staff. 
LRO 189(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1