An Act to Allow the People
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1068
Senate Amendment SA_A_S338 (Senate)
Amends: 21-A MRSA §1, 21-A MRSA §1122, 21-A MRSA §1123, 21-A MRSA §1124, 21-A MRSA §1125, 21-A MRSA §1126

SENATE AMENDMENT" ,4- '' to S.P. 452, L.D. 1068, "An Act to Allow the People 
to Elect the State Auditor" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act to Allow the People to Elect the State Auditor by Ranked-choice Voting and 
Allow Candidates for State Auditor to Participate in the Maine Clean Election Act' 
Amend the bill by inserting afte1· section 1 the following: 
'Sec, 2, 21-A MRSA §1, sub-§27-C, ,rD, as repealed and replaced by PL 2021, c. 
273, § 1, is a1nended to read: 
D. Genernl elections for presidential electors; aH-a 
Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §1, sub-§27-C, ~' as repealed and replaced by PL 2021, c. 
273, § 1, is amended to read: 
E. Primary elections for.the office of President of the United States,; and 
Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §1, sub-§27-C, Wis enacted to read: 
F. Primary and general elections for the office of State Auditor. 
Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§1, as enacted by IB 1995, c. l, §17, is amended 
to read: 
1. 
Certified candidate, 
"Certified candidate" means a candidate running for 
Govemor, State Senator ef~ State Representative or State Auditor who chooses to 
participate in the Maine Clean Election Act and who is ce11ified as a Maine Clean Election 
Act candidate undel' section 1125, subsection 5. 
Sec, 6, 21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§5, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, § 17, is amended 
to l'ead: 
5, Nonparticipating candidate. "Nonparticipating candidate" means a candidate 
running fol' Govemol', State Senator 01'~ State Repl'esentative or State Auditor 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 unde1· section 1125, subsection 5. 
Sec, 7, 21-A MRSA §1122, sub~§6, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended 
to read: 
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6. Participating candidate. "Participating candidate" means a candidate who is 
running for Governor, State Senator 0-1'_. State Representative or State Auditor who is 
seeking to be certified as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate under section 1125, 
subsection 5. 
Sec. 8. 21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§8, ~' as amended by PL 2009, c. 286, §5, is 
fm1he1· amended to read: 
B. For State Senate 0-1'_. State House of Representatives or State Auditor participating 
candidates, the qualifying period begins January I st 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. 9. 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 aoo_. State Representative and State 
Auditor. This alternative campaign financing option is available to candidates numing for 
Governor, State Senator and State Representative for elections to be held beginning in the 
year 2000, This alternative campaign financing option is available to candidates mnning 
for State At1dito1· for elections to be held beginning in the year 2028. The commission shall 
administer this Act and the fund. Candidates participating in the Maine Clean Election Act 
lll\:ffit shall also comply with all other applicable election and campaign laws and 
regulations. 
Sec. 10. 21-A MRSA §1124, sub-§1, as enacted by 1B 1995, c. 1, § 17, is amended 
to read: 
1, Established. The Maine Clean Election Fund is established to finance the election 
campaigns of ce1tified Maine Clean Election Act candidates rnnning for Govemor, State 
Senator ana_. State Representative and State Auditor 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, 11, 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§2-C, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 132, §10, is 
amended to 1·ead: 
2-C, Change in campaign financing. If a candidate has accepted contributions as a 
candidate for Governor, State Senator 0-1'_. State Representative or State Auditor 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 
ce11ification in the same election cycle. 
Sec. 12. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§5, as amended by 1B 2015, c. l, §20, is further 
amended by amending the first blocked paragrnph 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 othe1· suppo1ting documents requit'ed under subsection 4 but 
no later than 3 business days for legislative and State Auditol' candidates and 5 business 
days for gubernatorial candidates, The executive director may take additional time if 
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fmthe1· 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 01· other interested person may appeal the decision of the 
executive director to the members of the commission in accordance with subsection 14. 
Sec. 13. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§7-B, 1]l, as enacted by IB 20 LS, c. l, §23, is 
amended to read: 
B. For legislative and State Auditor 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 numbe1· of additional 
qualifying contributions. 
Sec. 14. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§8-E, ,n, as enacted by IB 2015, c. 1, §25, is 
amended to read: 
B. For legislative and State Auditor candidates, no earlier than January 1st of the 
election yea1· and no later than 3 weeks before election day. 
Sec, 15. 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 State Auditor candidates established by the commission based 
on the Consumer Price Index as repo11ed by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau 
of Labor Statistics. If an adjustment is warranted by the Consumer Price Index1 the 
distl'ibution 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, 16, 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§10, as amended by IB 201 S, c. 1, §26, is further 
amended to read: 
10. Candidate not enrolled in a party, An unemolled candidate for the Legislature 
or State Auditor 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 ce11ified is eligible for revenues from the fund in the same amounts and 
at the same time as an uncontested primaiy 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 unemolled candidate 
for Governor who submits the required number of qualifying contributions and other 
requh'ed documents under subsection 4 by 5:00 p.m. on April 1st preceding the primary 
election and who is ce1tified 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. Revem1es for the 
general election must be distributed to the candidate for Governor as specified in subsection 
7. 
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Sec. 17. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§15 is enacted to read: 
15. Terms of pa1•ticipation for State Auditor candidates, The commission shall 
establish terms of participation fol' State Auditor candidates that allow candidates to qualify 
and participate starting with the 2028 election cycle. The terms of participation established 
by the commission must set forth the seed money contribution limits, the number of 
qualifying contributions and the amount of revenue to be distributed from the fund and the 
timing of such distributions. When establishing the terms of participation, the commission 
shall consider the terms of participation for gube1'11atol'ial and legislative candidates set 
forth in this chapter, including an assessment of the difficulty of certification under this 
section and distribution amounts available to participating Senate and House candidates 
and gubernatorial candidates relative to the population of Senate and House districts and 
the State. The commission may establish different terms of participation for State Auditor 
candidates. 
Sec. 18. 21-A MRSA §1126, as amended by PL 2023, c. 21 l, §5, is fmther amended 
to read: 
§1126. Commission to adopt rules 
The commission shall adopt rules to ensure effective administration of this chapter. 
These rnles must include but may not be limited to procedures for obtaining qualifying 
contributions, ce1tification as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate, circumstances 
involving special elections, recounts, collection of revenues for the fund, distribution of 
fund revenue to cettified candidates, return of unspent fund disbmsements, disposition of 
equipment purchased with clean election funds, terms of participation fol' State Auditor 
candidates and compliance with the Maine Clean Election Act. Rules of the commission 
required by this section are major substantive mies as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A.' 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section 
number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment changes the title of the bill and requires the popular election of the 
State Auditor to be done using ranked-choice voting. The amendment also allows 
candidates for the office of State Audito1· to participate in the Maine Clean Election Act 
beginning with the 2028 election cycle. 
SPONSORED BY: ~P:'.-jlLt &lld?u4 
(Senato1· BALDgcr, J.) 
COUNTY: Penobscot 
SENATE AMENDMENT