Maine Payment of Petition Circulators Amendment (2017)

Maine Payment of Petition Circulators Amendment
Election date November 7, 2017
Topic Direct democracy measures
Status Not on the ballot
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

The Maine Payment of Petition Circulators Amendment did not qualify for the ballot in Maine as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 7, 2017.

The measure would have banned the practice of paying initiative and referendum circulators based on the number of signatures collected. This type of compensation is known as pay-per-signature.

As of 2017, Maine did not ban initiative or referendum circulators from receiving payment for collecting signatures based on the number of signatures collected.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title would have been as follows:

“

Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to prohibit a person who collects signatures for a written petition for a people's veto or for the direct initiative of legislation from being paid based upon the number of signatures the person collects?

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article IV--Pt. 3, Maine Constitution

The measure would have amended Section 20 of Article IV Pt. 3 of the Maine Constitution. The following underlined text would have been added: Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

Meaning of Words "Electors," "People," "Recess of Legislature," "Statewide Election," "Measure," "Circulator," and "Written Petition;" Written Petitions for People's Veto; Written Petitions for Direct initiative

As used in any of the 3 preceding sections or in this section the words "electors" and "people" mean the electors of the State qualified to vote for Governor; "recess of the Legislature" means the adjournment without day of a session of the Legislature; "statewide election" means any election held throughout the State on a particular day; "measure" means an Act, bill, resolve or resolution proposed by the people, or 2 or more such, or part or parts of such, as the case may be; "circulator" means a person who solicits signatures for written petitions, and who must be a resident of this State and whose name must appear on the voting list of the city, town or plantation of the circulator's residence as qualified to vote for Governor, and a circulator may not be paid based upon the number of signatures the circulator collects; "written petition" means one or more petitions written or printed, or partly written and partly printed, with the original signatures of the petitioners attached, verified as to the authenticity of the signatures by the oath of the circulator that all of the signatures to the petition were made in the presence of the circulator and that to the best of the circulator's knowledge and belief each signature is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be, and accompanied by the certificate of the official authorized by law to maintain the voting list or to certify signatures on petitions for voters on the voting list of the city, town or plantation in which the petitioners reside that their names appear on the voting list of the city, town or plantation of the official as qualified to vote for Governor. The oath of the circulator must be sworn to in the presence of a person authorized by law to administer oaths. Written petitions for a people's veto pursuant to Article IV, Part Third, Section 17 must be submitted to the appropriate officials of cities, towns or plantations, or state election officials as authorized by law, for determination of whether the petitioners are qualified voters by the hour of 5:00 p.m., on the 5th day before the petition must be filed in the office of the Secretary of State, or, if such 5th day is a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal holiday, by 5:00 p.m., on the next day which is not a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal holiday. Written petitions for a direct initiative pursuant to Article IV, Part Third, Section 18 must be submitted to the appropriate officials of cities, towns or plantations, or state election officials as authorized by law, for determination of whether the petitioners are qualified voters by the hour of 5:00 p.m., on the 10th day before the petition must be filed in the office of the Secretary of State, or, if such 10th day is a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal holiday, by 5:00 p.m., on the next day which is not a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal holiday. Such officials must complete the certification of only those petitions submitted by these deadlines and must return them to the circulators or their agents within 2 days for a petition for a people's veto and within 5 days for a petition for a direct initiative, Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays excepted, of the date on which such petitions were submitted to them. Signatures on petitions not submitted to the appropriate local or state officials by these deadlines may not be certified. The petition shall set forth the full text of the measure requested or proposed. Petition forms shall be furnished or approved by the Secretary of State upon written application signed and notarized and submitted to the office of the Secretary of State by a resident of this State whose name must appear on the voting list of the city, town or plantation of that resident as qualified to vote for Governor. The full text of a measure submitted to a vote of the people under the provisions of the Constitution need not be printed on the official ballots, but, until otherwise provided by the Legislature, the Secretary of State shall prepare the ballots in such form as to present the question or questions concisely and intelligibly.

Sponsors

The following state legislators sponsored the amendment:

• Rep. Stacy Guerin (R-102)
• Rep. James Gillway (R-98)
• Rep. Louis Luchini (D-132)
• Rep. Catherine Nadeau (D-78)
• Rep. Richard Pickett (R-116)
• Rep. William Tuell (R-139)
• Sen. William Diamond (D-26)
• Sen. James Dill (D-5)
• Sen. Roger Katz (R-15)
• Sen. Joyce Maker (R-6)

Background

On Our Terms '97 PAC v. Secretary of State of Maine

In 1994, the Maine State Legislature passed a statute to ban persons who collect signatures from receiving payment based on the number of signatures collected. In 1997, the legislature amended the statute to ban payment, rather than receiving the payment, based on the number of signatures collected.

In mid-1997, John Michael, a former member of the state House, asked the group U.S. Term Limits to help fund a campaign for a congressional term-limits pledge initiative. Paul Jacob, the group's national director, and Michael became aware of the statute banning pay-per-signature. Proponents discussed options, including challenging the statute as unconstitutional in court, but decided to pay circulators by the hour. Ultimately, the On Our Terms '97 campaign failed to collect enough signatures to get the measure certified for the ballot.

On Our Terms '97 and U.S. Term Limits decided to challenge the statute as violating the First Amendment in the U.S. District Court of Maine. On December 9, 1999, the court ruled that the statute violated the First Amendment. The opinion stated that the law burdened protected speech and failed to meet a compelling state interest.

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Maine Constitution

In Maine, the state legislature can refer constitutional amendments to the ballot for voter approval. A 2/3 vote is required in the state House of Representatives and state Senate.

Rep. Stacy Guerin (R-102) introduced the measure as Legislative Document 53 (LD 53) on January 10, 2017. The measure was referred to the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, which recommended passing the bill. On June 7, 2017, the Maine House of Representatives accepted the committee's Ought to Pass Report and voted to engross the bill. On June 16, 2017, the Maine Senate accepted the committee's Minority Ought Not To Pass Report, meaning the measure was rejected. The House, in response, asked the Senate to engross the bill. On June 19, 2017, the Senate voted 27 to 8 to reject the bill.

See also

Suggest a link

• Maine 2017 ballot measures
• 2017 ballot measures
• Maine Legislature
• Laws governing the initiative process in Maine

External links

• Maine Legislative Document 53