Opinion ID: 4707464
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Statutory Authority to Consider the Appeal

Text: [¶10] We begin by addressing the source of our authority to consider this appeal. The Superior Court treated the appeal to it as an appeal brought in part pursuant to 21-A M.R.S. § 905—the statute governing “[r]eview of initiative and referendum petitions.” That statute requires a determination of “the validity of the petition” by the Secretary of State, and allows review by the Superior Court, and appeal to us: 1. Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall review all petitions filed in the Department of the Secretary of State for a people’s veto referendum under the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part Third, Section 17, or for a direct initiative under the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part Third, Section 18. The Secretary of State shall determine the validity of the petition and issue a written decision stating the reasons for the decision 7 within 30 days from the date of filing of a written petition in the Department of the Secretary of State under the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part Third, Section 17 or 18. The Secretary of State may invalidate a petition if the Secretary of State is unable to verify the notarization of that petition. 2. Superior Court. Any voter named in the application under section 901, or any person who has validly signed the petitions, if these petitions are determined to be invalid, or any other voter, if these petitions are determined to be valid, may appeal the decision of the Secretary of State by commencing an action in the Superior Court. This action must be conducted in accordance with the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 80C, except as modified by this section. In reviewing the decision of the Secretary of State, the court shall determine whether the description of the subject matter is understandable to a reasonable voter reading the question for the first time and will not mislead a reasonable voter who understands the proposed legislation into voting contrary to that voter’s wishes. This action must be commenced within 10 days of the date of the decision of the Secretary of State. Upon timely application, anyone may intervene in this action when the applicant claims an interest relating to the subject matter of the petitions, unless the applicant’s interest is adequately represented by existing parties. The court shall issue its written decision containing its findings of fact and stating the reasons for its decision within 40 days of the date of the decision of the Secretary of State. 3. Supreme Judicial Court. Any aggrieved party may appeal the decision of the Superior Court, on questions of law, by filing a notice of appeal within 3 days of that decision. The appellant must file the required number of copies of the record with the clerk within 3 days after filing notice of appeal. After a notice of appeal is filed, the parties have 10 days to file briefs with the clerk of courts. As soon as the record and briefs have been filed, the court shall immediately consider the case. The standard of review shall be the same as for the Superior Court. The court shall 8 issue its decision within 30 days of the date of the decision of the Superior Court. 21-A M.R.S. § 905. [¶11] Before 2007, the ballot question drafted by the Secretary of State was part of the petition and was therefore subject to the Superior Court’s and our review pursuant to section 905. See P.L. 1983, ch. 410 (effective Sept. 23, 1983) (enacting the predecessor to 21-A M.R.S. § 901(4): “The ballot question for initiative and people’s veto referenda shall be drafted by the Secretary of State . . . . The question shall be conspicuously displayed on the face of the petition.”); see, e.g., Olson v. Sec’y of State, 1997 ME 30, ¶ 4, 689 A.2d 605 (holding that we would “independently determine whether the ballot question is understandable and not misleading” pursuant to section 905 when, under the law in place at that time, the question was part of the petition); Wagner v. Sec’y of State, 663 A.2d 564, 568 (Me. 1995) (reviewing whether an initiative question’s language was materially misleading when, under the law in place at that time, the question was part of the petition). Because the question was present on the face of a circulating petition during that time, section 906(6) was implicated in the review that the courts undertook pursuant to section 905. See Olson, 1997 ME 30, ¶ 6, 689 A.2d 605. When the ballot question was part of the circulating petition, the review authorized by section 905 allowed any voter 9 other than the applicant and valid signers of the petition to challenge the validity of the petition itself and, beginning in 1987, to ask for court review of “whether the description of the subject matter is understandable to a reasonable voter reading the question for the first time and will not mislead a reasonable voter who understands the proposed legislation into voting contrary to that voter’s wishes.” 21-A M.R.S. § 905(2); see P.L. 1987, ch. 119, § 1 (effective Sept. 29, 1987). [¶12] Since 2007, however, the ballot question is not included in a circulating petition. See P.L. 2007, ch. 234, §§ 2, 6 (effective Sept. 20, 2007) (codified at 21-A M.R.S. §§ 901(4), 905-A). The Secretary of State drafts the ballot question only after the petition has been validated, the initiated bill has been presented to the Legislature, and the Legislature has adjourned sine die without adopting the legislation. See 21-A M.R.S. §§ 901(4), 905-A. [¶13] Here, in accordance with this statutory procedure, the Secretary of State determined only the validity of the petition—with no review of the ballot question—in February 2021, see 21-A M.R.S. § 905(1), and that decision was not appealed to the Superior Court or to us, see id. § 905(2), (3). [¶14] The current version of these statutes permits only the petition’s applicants to seek judicial review of the Secretary of State’s drafting of the ballot 10 question—an event that now occurs well after the petition and signatures have been determined to be valid under section 905(1). Cf. 21-A M.R.S. § 901(7) (authorizing a “voter named in the application” to “appeal any decision made by the Secretary of State under . . . section [901] using the procedures for court review provided for in section 905, subsections 2 and 3”); id. § 901(4) (summarizing the process for the Secretary of State to write a ballot question in accordance with section 906 and submit it for public comment pursuant to section 905-A). Because Caiazzo is not a “voter named in the application,” section 905 does not apply to this appeal. 21-A M.R.S. § 901(7). [¶15] Rather, Caiazzo’s is an ordinary appeal from the final action of a state agent, brought to us pursuant to 5 M.R.S. § 11008 (2021) and M.R. Civ. P. 80C. This appeal is not, therefore, subject to the standard of review or to the expedited schedule for court decision-making set forth in section 905(2) and (3). Cf. Olson, 1997 ME 30, ¶ 4, 689 A.2d 605 (applying section 905 in reviewing a question that appeared on the face of a petition). We nonetheless decide the appeal on an expedited basis because all parties have briefed the issues, we have heard oral arguments, the matter is ready for our consideration, and the issuance of a timely opinion is appropriate given the need for the 11 question to be printed and presented to the voters on the November 2021 ballot.