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Maine Legislative Vote to Extend Governor's Emergency Declaration Initiative (2023)
| Maine Legislative Vote to Extend Governor's Emergency Declaration Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2023 | |
| Topic State executive official measures | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Maine Legislative Vote to Extend Governor's Emergency Declaration Initiative was not on the ballot in Maine as an indirect initiated state statute on November 7, 2023.
The ballot measure would have required a two-thirds vote of each legislative chamber to extend the governor's emergency declaration beyond 30 days.[1]
Text of measure
Full text
The full text of the ballot initiative is available here.
Path to the ballot
Process in Maine
In Maine, the number of signatures required to qualify an indirect initiated state statute for the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the total votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Petitions can be circulated for up to 18 months, but signatures must be no more than one year old to be valid. Signatures must be filed with the secretary by the 50th day of the first regular legislative session or the 25th day of the second regular session. Maine's initiative process is indirect, which means sufficient initiative petitions first go to the legislature and only go to the ballot if the legislature rejects or does not act on the initiative.
The requirements to get an initiated state statute certified for the 2023 ballot:
- Signatures: 67,682 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: January 26, 2023
Each petition signature is certified by the local registrar of voters. The signatures are then submitted to the secretary of state. If enough signatures are verified, the initiatives are sent to the legislature. If the legislature approves the initiative, it becomes law. If the legislature does not act on the initiative or rejects it, the initiative goes on the ballot. The legislature may submit "any amended form, substitute, or recommendation" to the people alongside the initiative; this alternative is treated as a competing measure.
Stages of this initiative
The Free Maine Committee proposed the ballot initiative, which was approved for signature gathering on January 25, 2021.[2]
The ballot initiative was allowed to circulate until July 25, 2022. The initiative campaign did not submit signatures by the deadline.[3]
See also
Footnotes
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State of Maine Augusta (capital) |
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