An Act to Authorize a Recall Election for a School Board Member
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1102
Committee: State and Local Government
Sponsors: BAGSHAW, STEWART, ANDREWS, HYMES, PERKINS, RISEMAN, RUDNICKI, SMITH, WILLIAMS, LIBBY
Amends: 30-A MRSA §2506

Legislative Document
No. 1102
H.P. 697
House of Representatives, March 9, 2023
An Act to Authorize a Recall Election for a School Board Member
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative BAGSHAW of Windham.
Cosponsored by Senator STEWART of Aroostook and
Representatives: ANDREWS of Paris, HYMES of Waldo, PERKINS of Dover-Foxcroft, 
RISEMAN of Harrison, RUDNICKI of Fairfield, SMITH of Palermo, WILLIAMS of Bar 
Harbor, Senator: LIBBY of Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  30-A MRSA §2506 is enacted to read:
§2506.  Recall of school board member
Except as otherwise provided by municipal ordinance or charter, a member of a school 
board 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 municipality at the last 
gubernatorial election, an election must be held to determine the recall of an elected 
member of a school board within that municipality.
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 municipal clerk of 
the municipality. 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 of the 
school board member subject to recall under this section. Only a person registered to vote 
in the municipality in which the school board member was elected 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 municipal clerk 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 municipality 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 of the school board member 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 municipal clerk 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 municipality in which the school 
board member was elected. 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 municipal clerk. The initiator of the petition under subsection 2 shall collect the 
petition forms from all circulators and submit the signed petition forms to the municipal 
clerk within 14 days of receipt of notice from the clerk that the petition forms are available 
under subsection 3. A municipal clerk may not accept a petition form submitted more than 
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 municipal clerk 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 municipal 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 municipal 
officers, the initiator of the petition and the school board member subject to the recall. If 
the municipal clerk finds the number of valid signatures submitted under subsection 4 does 
not meet the requirements for a petition under subsection 1, the municipal 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 municipal officers shall schedule a recall election to determine 
whether the school board member 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 a regular municipal election 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 regular municipal election. If the municipal 
officers fail to schedule a recall election within 10 days of certification of the recall petition 
under subsection 5, the municipal clerk shall schedule the recall election pursuant to the 
date requirements of this subsection.
7.  Ballots for recall election.  If the school board member subject to the recall does 
not resign from the member's position 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 school board member) from the (school unit) 
school board?
Yes        No"
8.  Results of recall election.  Within 2 business days of a recall election under 
subsection 6, the municipal clerk shall certify and record the election results and notify the 
municipal officers of those results. If a majority of voters vote to remove the school board 
member, the recall takes effect on the date the election results are recorded pursuant to this 
subsection.
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes a municipality to hold a recall election for a member of a school 
board elected from that municipality. Only a person registered to vote in the municipality 
that elected the school board member may initiate, circulate or sign a recall petition. A 
school board member may be recalled for any reason.