Maine Constitutional Right to Food Amendment (2020)
| Maine Constitutional Right to Food Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Food and agriculture | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The Maine Constitutional Right to Food Amendment was not on the ballot in Maine as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.
The ballot measure would have added language to the Maine Constitution stating that "individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to food, including the right to save and exchange seeds and the right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being, as long as an individual does not commit trespassing, theft, poaching or other abuses of private property rights, public lands or natural resources in the harvesting, production or acquisition of food."[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title would have been as follows:[1]
| “ |
Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to declare that all individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being?[2] |
” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article I, Maine Constitution
The measure would have added a Section 25 to Article I of the Maine Constitution. The following underlined text would have been added:[1]
Section 25. All individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to food, including the right to save and exchange seeds and the right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being, as long as an individual does not commit trespassing, theft, poaching or other abuses of private property rights, public lands or natural resources in the harvesting, production or acquisition of food.[2]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Maine Constitution
In Maine, a two-thirds vote is required in one legislative session of the Maine State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 101 votes in the Maine House of Representatives and 24 votes in the Maine Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
Rep. Craig Hickman (D-81) introduced the constitutional amendment as Legislative Document 795 (LD 795) during the 2019 legislative session. On June 4, 2019, the state House voted to engross LD 795. On June 5, 2019, the state Senate voted to engross LD 795. On March 10, 2020, the state House voted to amend the language of LD 794, re-engrossing the constitutional amendment. The state Senate did likewise on March 12.[1]
See also
External links
Amendment
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Maine State Legislature, "Legislative Document 795," accessed June 6, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content
 |
State of Maine Augusta (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
