An Act To Establish a Recall Process for Elected Officials in Plantations
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0059
Committee: State and Local Government
Sponsors: DEVIN
Amends: 30-A MRSA §7011

Legislative Document
No. 59
H.P. 56
House of Representatives, January 15, 2019
An Act To Establish a Recall Process for Elected Officials in 
Plantations
(EMERGENCY)
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative DEVIN of Newcastle.
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, plantations conduct official business that must be attended to on a daily 
basis, mostly by a small group of officials; and
Whereas, the inability to remove officials from office in plantations when those 
officials either fail to perform the duties required of the office or engage in misconduct 
directly affects the ability of the plantation to conduct its official business, which has a 
negative effect on the public interest and is of a direct concern to the State; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore,
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  30-A MRSA §7011 is enacted to read:
§7011.  Recall of plantation officials
An elected official of a plantation may be recalled from office pursuant to this 
section.
1.  Petition for recall.  On the written petition pursuant to subsection 5 of a number 
of voters equal to at least 10% of the number of votes cast in the plantation at the last 
gubernatorial election, an election must be held to determine the recall of an elected 
official of that plantation.
2.  Notice of intention.  In order to initiate a recall election under subsection 1, the 
initiator of the petition shall file a notice of intention of recall with the clerk of the 
plantation.  A notice of intention of recall under this subsection must include the name, 
address and contact information of the person filing the notice and the name and position 
of the official subject to recall under this section. Only a person registered to vote in the 
plantation may file a notice of intention of recall under this subsection.
3.  Petition forms.  Within 3 business days of receipt of a notice of intention of recall 
under subsection 2, the clerk of the plantation 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 plantation 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, the name and position of the official subject to recall, the 
name and contact information of the initiator of the petition and the date by which the 
signatures must be submitted to the clerk of the plantation 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 plantation.  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 clerk of the plantation. The initiator 
of the petition under subsection 2 shall collect the petition forms from all circulators and 
submit the signed petition forms to the clerk within 14 days of receipt of notice from the 
clerk that the petition forms are available under subsection 3. A clerk may not accept a 
petition form submitted more than 14 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 clerk of the plantation 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 clerk finds that the number of valid signatures 
submitted under subsection 4 meets or exceeds the requirements under subsection 1, the 
clerk shall certify the petition and immediately send notification of the certification to the 
officers of the plantation, the initiator of the petition and the official subject to the recall. 
If the clerk finds the number of valid signatures submitted under subsection 4 does not 
meet the requirements for a petition under subsection 1, the clerk shall file the petition 
and the petition forms in the clerk's office and notify the initiator of the petition.
6.  Scheduling recall election.  Within 10 business days of certification of the 
petition under subsection 5, the officers of the plantation shall schedule a recall election 
to determine whether the official subject to the recall petition should be recalled. The 
election must be held no less than 45 days nor more than 75 days after certification of the 
petition under subsection 5 unless an annual meeting under section 7004 is scheduled to 
be held within 90 days of the certification of the petition under subsection 5, in which 
case the recall election must be held on the date of the annual meeting. If the officers of 
the plantation fail to schedule a recall election within 10 days of certification of the recall 
petition under subsection 5, the clerk of the plantation shall schedule the recall election 
pursuant to the date requirements of this subsection.
7.  Ballots for recall election.  If the official subject to the recall does not resign 
from office within 10 business days of certification of the recall petition under subsection 
5, the ballots for the recall election under subsection 6 must be printed. A ballot for a 
recall election under this section must read:
"Do you authorize the recall of (name of official) from the position of 
(name of office)?
( ) Yes ( ) No"
8.  Results of recall election.  Within 2 business days of a recall election under 
subsection 6, the clerk of the plantation shall certify and record the election results and 
notify the officers of the plantation of those results. If a majority of voters vote to remove 
the official, the recall takes effect on the date the election results are recorded pursuant to 
this subsection.
9.  Limitation of recall.  An elected official may be the subject of a recall petition 
under this section only for neglect of duty or misconduct in office and after being given a 
written statement of the charges.
Emergency clause.  In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a procedure to recall an elected official of a plantation based on 
the elected official's neglect of duty or misconduct.