An Act to Require the Legislature to Elect Constitutional Officers
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1193
Committee: State and Local Government
Sponsors: BENNETT, WARREN
Amends: 5 MRSA §81, 5 MRSA §121, 5 MRSA §191-A, 5 MRSA §241

Legislative Document
No. 1193
S.P. 482
In Senate, March 20, 2025
An Act to Require the Legislature to Elect Constitutional Officers 
and the State Auditor in Convention with an Open Ballot System
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator BENNETT of Oxford.
Cosponsored by Representative WARREN of Scarborough and
Representative: CARLOW of Buxton.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §81, as amended by PL 1977, c. 674, §1, is further amended by 
amending the section headnote to read:
§81.  Office and duties; vacancy; salary; expenses; fees; election convention
Sec. 2.  5 MRSA §81, as amended by PL 1977, c. 674, §1, is further amended by 
enacting at the end a new paragraph to read:
A convention that is held by the Legislature to elect the Secretary of State pursuant to 
the Constitution of Maine, Article V, Part Second, Section 1 must be open to the public and 
the vote of each voting Senator and Representative must be recorded and made available 
for public inspection.
Sec. 3.  5 MRSA §121, as amended by PL 2005, c. 683, Pt. C, §1, is further amended 
by amending the section headnote to read:
§121.  Office; bond; salary; deputy; fees; election convention
Sec. 4.  5 MRSA §121, as amended by PL 2005, c. 683, Pt. C, §1, is further amended 
by enacting at the end a new paragraph to read:
A convention that is held by the Legislature to elect the Treasurer of State pursuant to 
the Constitution of Maine, Article V, Part Third, Section 1 must be open to the public and 
the vote of each voting Senator and Representative must be recorded and made available 
for public inspection.
Sec. 5.  5 MRSA §191-A, as corrected by RR 2023, c. 2, Pt. B, §26, is amended to 
read:
§191-A.  Transition Election convention; transition period
A convention that is held by the Legislature to elect the Attorney General pursuant to 
the Constitution of Maine, Article IX, Section 11 must be open to the public and the vote 
of each voting Senator and Representative must be recorded and made available for public 
inspection.
In order to provide for an orderly transition following the biennial election of the 
Attorney General, the Attorney General-elect may not take the oath of office or otherwise 
qualify for the office for a period of no less than 30 days following that election.
Sec. 6.  5 MRSA §241, as amended by PL 2015, c. 44, §3, is further amended by 
amending the section headnote to read:
§241.  State Auditor; election convention; salary
Sec. 7.  5 MRSA §241, first ¶, as amended by PL 2013, c. 16, §1, is further amended 
to read:
The State Auditor is the head of the Office of the State Auditor. The State Auditor must 
be a certified public accountant or a college graduate with not less than 6 years of 
experience as a professional accountant or auditor, including not less than 5 years of 
auditing experience, of which not less than 4 years must have been in a supervisory 
capacity. The State Auditor must be elected by the Legislature by a joint ballot of the 
Senators and Representatives in convention and. The convention must be open to the public 
and the vote of each voting Senator and Representative must be recorded and made 
available for public inspection.  The State Auditor holds office for a term of 4 years or until 
a successor is elected and qualified. The State Auditor shall exercise such the powers and 
perform such the duties as are set forth in this chapter. In case the office of State Auditor 
becomes vacant during a period when the Legislature is not in session, the appointment of 
a person to fill such the vacancy must be made immediately by the President of the Senate 
or, if that office is vacant, by the Speaker of the House, and the person appointed holds that 
office until such time as the Legislature meets in regular or special session, and either 
confirm confirms the appointment of the person or chooses another person to fill the office 
during the unexpired term.
SUMMARY
This bill requires that the conventions held by the Legislature to elect the Secretary of 
State, the Treasurer of State, the Attorney General and the State Auditor must be open to 
the public and the vote of each voting Senator and Representative must be recorded.