An Act to Amend a Circulator's Oath for Petitions and Nomination Papers by Including the Number of Signatures Collected
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1846
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: BOYER, BRAKEY
Amends: 21-A MRSA §335, 21-A MRSA §354, 21-A MRSA §902

Legislative Document
No. 1846
H.P. 1178
House of Representatives, April 27, 2023
An Act to Amend a Circulator's Oath for Petitions and Nomination 
Papers by Including the Number of Signatures Collected
Reference to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative BOYER of Poland.
Cosponsored by Senator BRAKEY of Androscoggin.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  21-A MRSA §335, sub-§7, ¶A, as amended by PL 2009, c. 253, §17, is 
further amended to read:
A.  The circulator of a primary petition shall verify by oath or affirmation before a 
notary public or other person authorized by law to administer oaths or affirmations the 
total number of signatures on the petition and that the circulator personally witnessed 
all of the signatures to the petition and that to the best of the circulator's knowledge and 
belief each signature is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be; each 
signature authorized under section 153‑A was made by the authorized signer in the 
presence and at the direction of the voter; and each person is enrolled in the party named 
in the petition and is a resident of the electoral division named in the petition.
Sec. 2.  21-A MRSA §354, sub-§7, ¶A, as amended by PL 2009, c. 253, §20, is 
further amended to read:
A.  The circulator of a nomination petition shall verify by oath or affirmation before a 
notary public or other person authorized by law to administer oaths or affirmations the 
total number of signatures on the petition and that the circulator personally witnessed 
all of the signatures to the petition and that to the best of the circulator's knowledge and 
belief each signature is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be; each 
signature authorized under section 153‑A was made by the authorized signer in the 
presence and at the direction of the voter; and each person is a resident of the electoral 
division named in the petition.
Sec. 3.  21-A MRSA §902, 2nd ¶, as amended by PL 2017, c. 277, §4, is further 
amended to read:
The petitions must be signed in the same manner as are nonparty nomination petitions 
under section 354, subsections 3 and 4.  The circulator of a petition must sign the petition 
and verify by oath or affirmation before a notary public or other person authorized by law 
to administer oaths or affirmations the total number of signatures on the petition and that 
the circulator personally witnessed all of the signatures to the petition and that to the best 
of the circulator's knowledge and belief each signature is the signature of the person whose 
name it purports to be and that each signature authorized under section 153‑A was made 
by the authorized signer in the presence and at the direction of the voter. After 
administering the oath to the circulator, the notary public or other authorized person must 
sign the notarial certificate on the petition while in the presence of the circulator. After the 
petition is signed and verified in this manner, the petition must be submitted to the registrar 
for certification in accordance with the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part Third, 
Section 20.  If the petitions submitted to the registrar are not signed and verified in 
accordance with this paragraph, the registrar may not certify the petitions and is required 
only to return the petitions.  The clerk or registrar shall keep a log of petitions submitted to 
the municipal office for verification.  The log must contain the title of the petition, the name 
of the person submitting the petition, the date of submission, the number of petition forms 
submitted and the date and manner by which the petitions were returned.  The notary public 
or other authorized person who administered the oath to the circulator must keep a log of 
petitions for which that person administered the circulator's oath, listing the title of the 
petition, the name of the circulator taking the oath, the date of the oath and the number of 
petition forms signed and verified by the circulator that day.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the laws governing a circulator's oath for a primary petition, 
nomination petition, people's veto referendum petition or direct initiative of legislation 
petition to include the total number of signatures on the petition.