Maine
Should taxpayers be forced to fund their own foes?
Last week Citizens in Charge Foundation - a partner organization to Citizens in Charge - sent a letter to Secretaries of State and Attorneys General in 12 states asking them to stop enforcing unconstitutional restrictions on ballot initiative rights. In light of recent legal action in which Kansas officials agreed with petition advocates that the state’s law against petition circulators from other states was unconstitutional, Foundation President Paul Jacob asked officials to “do the right thing” and stop enforcing similar
A proposal on the city’s ballot to give noncitizens the right to vote in municipal elections was the focus of a student-moderated forum Wednesday at Portland High School. The forum, hosted by Antoinette Skillings’ law and public policy class, included residents on both sides of the issue, advocates for immigrants and city officials who will enact the proposal if it’s approved. The forum was videotaped and will air on local cable television starting Tuesday.
(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Today, Citizens in Charge Foundation, a transpartisan national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, presented Maine Citizen State Coordinator Mary Adams with the June 2010 John Lilburne Award. Adams is being honored this month for her work over the decades in not only utilizing, but defending and expanding the initiative & referendum process in the state of Maine.
Maine’s secretary of state has decided upon the wording of a citizen initiative question that will be on the Nov. 2 ballot asking voters if they want to allow a casino in western Maine. Matthew Dunlap says the question will read: “Do you want to allow a casino with table games and slot machines at a single site in Oxford County, subject to local approval, with part of the profits going to specific state, local and tribal programs?”
Of the 45 states whose legislatures hold sessions in 2010, 27 of them have adjourned for the year, and 5 more will wrap up before the end of the month. Of the more than 80 bills dealing with the initiative and referendum process in various states, 51 of them would have reduced citizens’ initiative rights. Thanks to the work of activists in our coalitions, only 3 bills reducing citizen’s rights have passed and become law.
The Senate yesterday voted in favor of sending only a proposal to develop a casino in Oxford County to voters in November. The 26-8 vote effectively kills a proposal to put a three-part question on the ballot that would have allowed voters to approve the Oxford casino, a casino in Washington County run by the Passamaquoddy Tribe and table games at Hollywood Slots in Bangor, according to the Sun Journal. The House voted similarly on Friday.
Citizens in Charge, a partner organization of Citizens in Charge Foundation, issued the following press release this morning:
(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Today, Citizens in Charge, a transpartisan national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, urges Maine Governor John Baldacci to veto LD 1730, which passed the Maine House on Monday, and is currently on his desk. If signed into law, LD 1730 would require anyone who intends to pay campaign workers to collect signatures on a petition to register with the state.
(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Today, Citizens in Charge, a transpartisan national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, urges Maine Governor John Baldacci to veto LD 1730, which passed the Maine House on Monday, and is currently on his desk. If signed into law, LD 1730 would require anyone who intends to pay campaign workers to collect signatures on a petition to register with the state.
Concerns about the integrity of Maine’s ballot initiative process have prompted action on a bill to tighten the requirements for organizations behind petition campaigns. The House on Monday agreed with the Senate and approved a measure requiring businesses that receive compensation for circulating petitions to register with the Secretary of State.
(Augusta, ME) - Today several of Maine’s grassroots activists and community organizers united in protest to an unconstitutional bill moving through the state legislature which would hinder Mainers’ initiative & people’s veto referendum rights.
Mary Adams, Chair of the 2006 Taxpayer Bill of Rights Referendum, and Dana Cote, President of the National Worksite Benefit Group are among the state leaders who have sent a coalition letter to the Maine legislature asking them to vote “no” on LD 1730, and vote “yes” for Maine’s First Amendment rights.
(Augusta, ME) - Today several of Maine’s grassroots activists and community organizers united in protest to an unconstitutional bill moving through the state legislature which would hinder Mainers’ initiative & people’s veto referendum rights.
Mary Adams, Chair of the 2006 Taxpayer Bill of Rights Referendum, and Dana Cote, President of the National Worksite Benefit Group are among the state leaders who have sent a coalition letter to the Maine legislature asking them to vote “no” on LD 1730, and vote “yes” for Maine’s First Amendment rights.
The Maine Senate has passed legislation tightening the ballot initiative process. The measure requires greater disclosure of who is paying for the circulation of petitions for ballot initiatives. It also allows more time for a challenge to a petition. Sen. Bruce Bryant, an Oxford Democrat, supported the measure during floor debate.