An Act To Require an Affidavit for Every Independent Expenditure Influencing an Election and To Penalize the Use of Mistruths
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 0526
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: STEWART, FARRIN, POULIOT, TIMBERLAKE, KINNEY
Amends: 21-A MRSA §1004-A, 21-A MRSA §1019-B

Legislative Document
No. 526
S.P. 211
In Senate, February 24, 2021
An Act To Require an Affidavit for Every Independent Expenditure 
Influencing an Election and To Penalize the Use of Mistruths
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on February 22, 2021.  Referred to the Committee 
on Veterans and Legal Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator STEWART of Aroostook.
Cosponsored by Senators: FARRIN of Somerset, POULIOT of Kennebec, TIMBERLAKE of 
Androscoggin, Representative: KINNEY of Knox.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  21-A MRSA §1004-A, sub-§6 is enacted to read:
6.  False statements regarding a candidate financed by independent expenditures.  
Notwithstanding section 1004, subsection 2, a person that makes a false statement in a 
statement required by section 1019-B, subsection 4, paragraph D or that, with actual malice, 
makes an independent expenditure to design, produce or disseminate a communication that 
contains a false statement regarding any candidate in violation of the prohibition in section 
1019-B, subsection 6 may be assessed a penalty not to exceed $5,000.
Sec. 2.  21-A MRSA §1004-A, 2nd ¶, as amended by PL 2009, c. 302, §1, is further 
amended to read:
When the commission has reason to believe that a violation has occurred, the 
commission shall provide written notice to the candidate, party committee, political action 
committee, committee treasurer or other respondent and shall afford them an opportunity 
to appear before the commission before assessing any penalty. In determining any penalty 
under subsections 3, 4 and, 5 and 6, the commission shall consider, among other things, the 
level of intent to mislead, the penalty necessary to deter similar misconduct in the future 
and the harm suffered by the public from the incorrect disclosure. A final determination by 
the commission may be appealed to the Superior Court in accordance with Title 5, chapter 
375, subchapter 7 and the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 80C.
Sec. 3.  21-A MRSA §1019-B, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2019, c. 323, §15, is 
further amended to read:
1.  Independent expenditures; definition.  For the purposes of this section, an 
"independent expenditure" is any expenditure made by a person that is not made in 
cooperation, consultation or concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate, a 
candidate's political committee or an agent of either and that:
A.  Is any expenditure made by a person, party committee or political action committee, 
other than by contribution to a candidate or a candidate's authorized political 
committee, for to design, produce or disseminate any communication that expressly 
advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate; and or
B.  Is presumed to be any expenditure Unless the person making the expenditure 
demonstrates under subsection 2 that the expenditure was not intended to influence the 
nomination, election or defeat of the candidate, is made to design, produce or 
disseminate a communication that names or depicts a clearly identified candidate and 
is disseminated during the 28 days, including election day, before a primary election; 
during the 35 days, including election day, before a special election; or from Labor Day 
to a general election day.
Sec. 4.  21-A MRSA §1019-B, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2019, c. 323, §16, is 
further amended to read:
2.  Rebutting presumption Commission determination.  A person presumed under 
this section to have made an independent expenditure may rebut the presumption request a 
determination that an expenditure that otherwise meets the definition of an independent 
expenditure under subsection 1, paragraph B is not an independent expenditure by filing a 
signed written statement with the commission within 48 hours of disseminating the 
communication stating that the cost was not incurred with the intent to influence the 
nomination, election or defeat of a candidate, supported by any additional evidence the 
person chooses to submit.  The commission may gather any additional evidence it deems 
determines relevant and material and shall determine by a preponderance of the evidence 
whether the cost was incurred with intent to influence the nomination, election or defeat of 
a candidate.
Sec. 5.  21-A MRSA §1019-B, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2019, c. 323, §17, is 
further amended to read:
4.  Report required; content; rules.  A person, party committee or political action 
committee that makes any independent expenditure in excess of $250 during any one 
candidate's election shall file a report with the commission in accordance with this 
subsection.  In the case of a municipal election, the report required by this subsection must 
also be filed with the municipal clerk.
A.  A report required by this subsection must be filed with the commission according 
to a reporting schedule that the commission shall establish by rule that takes into 
consideration existing campaign finance reporting requirements.  Rules adopted 
pursuant to this paragraph are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2‑A.
B.  A report required by this subsection must contain an itemized account of each 
expenditure in excess of $250 in any one candidate's election, the date and purpose of 
each expenditure and the name of each payee or creditor.  The report must state whether 
the expenditure is in support of or in opposition to the clearly identified candidate and 
must include, under penalty of perjury, as provided in Title 17‑A, section 451, a written, 
signed statement under oath or affirmation whether that the expenditure is was not 
made in cooperation, consultation or concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, 
the any candidate or an authorized committee or agent of the any candidate.
C.  A report required by this subsection must be on a form prescribed and prepared by 
the commission.  A person filing this report may use additional pages if necessary, but 
the pages must be the same size as the pages of the form.  The commission may adopt 
procedures requiring the electronic filing of an independent expenditure report, as long 
as the commission receives the statement original signed statements made under oath 
or affirmation set out in paragraph paragraphs B and D by the filing deadline and the 
commission adopts an exception to the electronic filing requirement for persons who 
lack access to the required technology or the technological ability to file reports 
electronically.  The commission may adopt procedures allowing for the signed 
statement statements required by paragraphs B and D to be provisionally filed by 
facsimile or electronic mail, as long as the report is not considered complete without 
the filing of and timely filed for purposes of section 1020-A unless the original signed 
statement statements are received by the deadline established in paragraph A.
D.  A report required by this subsection must include a written, signed statement under 
oath or affirmation that the communication financed by the independent expenditure 
does not contain a false statement made with actual malice regarding any candidate.  
Notwithstanding section 1004, subsection 2, a person that makes a false statement in a 
statement required by this paragraph is subject to the penalty provided in section 
1004-A, subsection 6.
Sec. 6.  21-A MRSA §1019-B, sub-§5, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 389, §21, is 
repealed.
Sec. 7.  21-A MRSA §1019-B, sub-§6 is enacted to read:
6.  Prohibition; other laws unaffected.  A person may not, with actual malice, make 
an independent expenditure to design, produce or disseminate a communication that 
contains a false statement regarding any candidate.  Nothing in this section may be 
construed to preclude a candidate from seeking monetary or equitable relief from the person 
who made the independent expenditure through a civil action, including but not limited to 
an action for slander or libel, as permitted by law.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the campaign finance laws to prohibit a person from, with actual 
malice, making an independent expenditure to design, produce or disseminate a 
communication that contains a false statement regarding any candidate.  The bill also 
requires a person who makes an independent expenditure to include in a report filed with 
the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices a written statement under 
oath or affirmation that the communication financed by the independent expenditure does 
not contain such a false statement.  A person is subject to a civil penalty of up to $5,000 
for making an independent expenditure in violation of the prohibition or for falsely signing 
the written statement included in the report to the commission.  The bill does not preclude 
a candidate from seeking monetary or equitable relief through a civil action, including an 
action for slander or libel, against the person who made the independent expenditure.
The bill also makes the following changes to the laws governing independent 
expenditures:
1.  It adds clarity by including within the definition of independent expenditure, rather 
than in an exception to that definition, that an independent expenditure is an expenditure 
that is not made in cooperation, consultation or concert with, or at the request or suggestion 
of, a candidate, a candidate's political committee or an agent of either; and
2.  Because the word "person" is defined to include a party committee and a political 
action committee for purposes of the campaign finance laws, it removes redundant 
references to these entities in the statute governing independent expenditures.