An Act To Apply the Same Auditing Standards to All Candidates and Political Action Committees
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 0413
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: RISEMAN
Amends: 21-A MRSA §1003, 21-A MRSA §1125

Legislative Document
No. 413
H.P. 297
House of Representatives, February 10, 2021
An Act To Apply the Same Auditing Standards to All Candidates 
and Political Action Committees
Received by the Clerk of the House on February 8, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on 
Veterans and Legal Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint 
Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative RISEMAN of Harrison.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  21-A MRSA §1003, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2013, c. 162, §1, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Investigations.  The commission may shall undertake the audits and investigations 
provided for under this section to determine whether a person has violated this chapter, 
chapter 14 or the rules of the commission.  For this purpose, the commission may subpoena 
witnesses and records whether located within or without the State and take evidence under 
oath.  A person or entity that fails to obey the lawful subpoena of the commission or to 
testify before it under oath must be punished by the Superior Court for contempt upon 
application by the Attorney General on behalf of the commission.  The Attorney General 
may apply on behalf of the commission to the Superior Court or to a court of another state 
to enforce compliance with a subpoena issued to a nonresident person. Service of any 
subpoena issued by the commission may be accomplished by:
A.  Delivering a duly executed copy of the notice to the person to be served or to a 
partner or to any officer or agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service 
of process on behalf of that person;
B.  Delivering a duly executed copy of the notice to the principal place of business in 
this State of the person to be served; or
C.  Mailing by registered or certified mail a duly executed copy of the notice, addressed 
to the person to be served, to the person's principal place of business.
Sec. 2.  21-A MRSA §1003, sub-§1-A is enacted to read:
1-A.  Random audits and investigations.  The commission shall undertake random 
audits and investigations to determine whether candidates for state office and political 
action committees required to file reports with the commission under section 1059 have 
violated this chapter, chapter 14 or the rules of the commission.  The commission shall 
adopt rules to implement this subsection.  Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are 
routine technical rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.  At a minimum, 
the rules must:
A.  Require the commission to audit and investigate an equal percentage of primary 
candidates for all state offices who are certified as Maine Clean Election Act candidates 
under section 1125, subsection 5 and primary candidates for all state offices who are 
not certified as Maine Clean Election Act candidates;
B.  Require the commission to audit and investigate an equal percentage of general 
election candidates for all state offices who are certified as Maine Clean Election Act 
candidates under section 1125, subsection 5 and general election candidates for all state 
offices who are not certified as Maine Clean Election Act candidates;
C.  Require the commission to audit and investigate a percentage of all political action 
committees required to file reports with the commission under section 1059 equal to 
the percentage of candidates audited and investigated under paragraph B;
D.  Require candidates and political action committees selected for an audit and 
investigation to disclose records of all contributions and expenditures to the 
commission or its auditor; and
E.  Establish standard auditing requirements that must be applied to each candidate or 
political action committee selected for an audit and investigation.
Sec. 3.  21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§12-B, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 443, Pt. B, §6, 
is repealed.
SUMMARY
This bill directs the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices to 
conduct random audits of political action committees that are required to file campaign 
finance reports with the commission and candidates for state office, including candidates 
for Governor, State Senator, State Representative and presidential elector.  The bill directs 
the commission to adopt rules to implement this requirement.  The rules must direct the 
commission to audit an equal percentage of candidates for state office who are certified as 
Maine Clean Election Act candidates, candidates for state office who are not certified as 
Maine Clean Election Act candidates and political action committees.  The rules must also 
establish standard auditing requirements to be applied to each candidate and political action 
committee.