An Act to Allow Candidates for County Office to Participate in the Maine Clean Election Act
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1966
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: COLLINGS, RIELLY
Amends: 21-A MRSA §1122, 21-A MRSA §1123, 21-A MRSA §1124, 21-A MRSA §1125, 21-A MRSA §1126

Legislative Document
No. 1966
H.P. 1263
House of Representatives, May 18, 2023
An Act to Allow Candidates for County Office to Participate in the 
Maine Clean Election Act
Reference to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative COLLINGS of Portland.
Cosponsored by Representative: RIELLY of Westbrook.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§1, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended 
to read:
1.  Certified candidate.  "Certified candidate" means a candidate running for 
Governor, State Senator or, State Representative or county office who chooses to 
participate in the Maine Clean Election Act and who is certified as a Maine Clean Election 
Act candidate under section 1125, subsection 5.
Sec. 2.  21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§5, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended 
to read:
5.  Nonparticipating candidate.  "Nonparticipating candidate" means a candidate 
running for Governor, State Senator or, State Representative or county office who does not 
choose to participate in the Maine Clean Election Act and who is not seeking to be certified 
as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate under section 1125, subsection 5.
Sec. 3.  21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§6, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended 
to read:
6.  Participating candidate.  "Participating candidate" means a candidate who is 
running for Governor, State Senator or, State Representative or county office who is 
seeking to be certified as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate under section 1125, 
subsection 5.
Sec. 4.  21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§8, ¶B, as amended by PL 2009, c. 286, §5, is 
further amended to read:
B.  For State Senate or, State House of Representatives or county office participating 
candidates, the qualifying period begins January 1st of the election year and ends at 
5:00 p.m. on April 20th of that election year or the next business day following April 
20th if the office of the commission is closed on April 20th.
Sec. 5.  21-A MRSA §1123, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended to read:
§1123.  Alternative campaign financing option
This chapter establishes an alternative campaign financing option available to 
candidates running for Governor, State Senator and, State Representative and county 
office.  This alternative campaign financing option is available to candidates for elections 
to be held beginning in the year 2000.  The commission shall administer this Act and the 
fund.  Candidates participating in the Maine Clean Election Act must also comply with all 
other applicable election and campaign laws and regulations.
Sec. 6.  21-A MRSA §1124, sub-§1, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended 
to read:
1.  Established.  The Maine Clean Election Fund is established to finance the election 
campaigns of certified Maine Clean Election Act candidates running for Governor, State 
Senator and, State Representative or county office and to pay administrative and 
enforcement costs of the commission related to this Act.  The fund is a special, dedicated, 
nonlapsing fund and any interest generated by the fund is credited to the fund.  The 
commission shall administer the fund. 
Sec. 7.  21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§2-C, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 132, §10, is 
amended to read:
2-C.  Change in campaign financing.  If a candidate has accepted contributions as a 
candidate for Governor, State Senator or, State Representative or county office that are not 
seed money contributions as defined in section 1122, subsection 9 or do not comply with 
the seed money restrictions in subsections 2 and 2‑A, the candidate is ineligible for 
certification in the same election cycle.
Sec. 8.  21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§5, as amended by IB 2015, c. 1, §20, is further 
amended by amending the first blocked paragraph to read:
The executive director shall certify a candidate complying with the requirements of this 
section as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate as soon as possible after final submittal of 
qualifying contributions and other supporting documents required under subsection 4 but 
no later than 3 business days for legislative and county office candidates and 5 business 
days for gubernatorial candidates.  The executive director may take additional time if 
further investigation is necessary to verify compliance with this Act as long as the 
commission notifies the candidate regarding the anticipated schedule for conclusion of the 
investigation.  A candidate or other interested person may appeal the decision of the 
executive director to the members of the commission in accordance with subsection 14.
Sec. 9.  21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§7-B, ¶B, as enacted by IB 2015, c. 1, §23, is 
amended to read:
B.  For legislative and county office candidates, any supplemental general election 
distributions made pursuant to subsections 8‑C and 8‑D must be made within 3 
business days of certification by the commission of the required number of additional 
qualifying contributions.
Sec. 10.  21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§8-E, ¶B, as enacted by IB 2015, c. 1, §25, is 
amended to read:
B.  For legislative and county office candidates, no earlier than January 1st of the 
election year and no later than 3 weeks before election day.
Sec. 11.  21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§8-F, as enacted by IB 2015, c. 1, §25, is 
amended to read:
8-F.  Amount of distributions.  On December 1st of each even-numbered year the 
commission shall review and adjust the distribution amounts in subsections 8‑B to 8‑D and 
the distribution amounts for county candidates established by the commission based on the 
Consumer Price Index as reported by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of 
Labor Statistics.  If an adjustment is warranted by the Consumer Price Index, the 
distribution amounts must be adjusted, rounded to the nearest amount divisible by $25.  
When making adjustments under this subsection, the commission may not change the 
number of qualifying contributions or additional qualifying contributions required to 
trigger an initial distribution or an increment of supplemental distribution.  The commission 
shall post information about the distribution amounts including the date of any adjustment 
on its publicly accessible website and include this information with any publication to be 
used as a guide for candidates.
Sec. 12.  21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§10, as amended by IB 2015, c. 1, §26, is further 
amended to read:
10.  Candidate not enrolled in a party.  An unenrolled candidate for the Legislature 
or county office who submits the required number of qualifying contributions and other 
required documents under subsection 4 by 5:00 p.m. on April 20th preceding the primary 
election and who is certified is eligible for revenues from the fund in the same amounts and 
at the same time as an uncontested primary election candidate and a general election 
candidate as specified in subsections 7, 8‑C and 8‑D.  Revenues for the general election 
must be distributed to the candidate as specified in subsection 7.  An unenrolled candidate 
for Governor who submits the required number of qualifying contributions and other 
required documents under subsection 4 by 5:00 p.m. on April 1st preceding the primary 
election and who is certified is eligible for revenues from the fund in the same amounts and 
at the same time as an uncontested primary election gubernatorial candidate and a general 
election gubernatorial candidate as specified in subsections 7 and 8‑B.  Revenues for the 
general election must be distributed to the candidate for Governor as specified in subsection 
7.
Sec. 13.  21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§15 is enacted to read:
15.  Terms of participation for county candidates.  The commission shall establish 
terms of participation for county candidates that allow candidates to qualify and participate 
starting with the 2024 election cycle. The terms of participation established by the 
commission must set forth the seed money contribution limits, the number of qualifying 
contributions and distribution amounts for each county office. When establishing the terms 
of participation, the commission shall consider the terms of participation for gubernatorial 
and legislative candidates set forth in this chapter, including an assessment of the difficulty 
of qualifying and distribution amounts available to participating House and Senate 
candidates and gubernatorial candidates relative to the population of House and Senate 
districts and the State. The commission shall also consider historical spending patterns for 
the various county races in contested and uncontested primary and general elections, the 
population of the electoral district of a county office, the competitiveness of the office and 
any other factors the commission determines to be consistent with the purposes of this 
chapter. If the geographic area or population of the electoral district for a county office 
varies substantially across the State, the commission may establish different terms of 
participation that reasonably relate to the difference in geographic area or population. If 
necessary, the commission may use the emergency rule-making provisions of Title 5, 
section 8054 without making findings of emergency for purposes of establishing these 
terms of participation in advance of the 2024 election cycle.
Sec. 14.  21-A MRSA §1126, as amended by PL 2001, c. 465, §7, is further amended 
to read:
§1126.  Commission to adopt rules
The commission shall adopt rules to ensure effective administration of this chapter.  
These rules must include but must not be limited to procedures for obtaining qualifying 
contributions, certification as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate, circumstances 
involving special elections, vacancies, recounts, withdrawals or replacements, collection 
of revenues for the fund, distribution of fund revenue to certified candidates, return of 
unspent fund disbursements, disposition of equipment purchased with clean election funds 
and, compliance with the Maine Clean Election Act and terms of participation for county 
candidates.  Rules of the commission required by this section are major substantive rules 
as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II‑A 2-A.
SUMMARY
This bill allows candidates for county office to participate in the Maine Clean Election 
Act.