Maine Taxpayer Action Network v. Secretary of State
Maine Taxpayer Action Network v. Secretary of State is a lawsuit decided by the Maine Supreme Court on April 17, 2002. The court ruled in favor of the defendant, the Maine Secretary of State.
Background
The plaintiff, the Maine Taxpayer Action Network (MTAN) had filed the lawsuit against the Maine Secretary of State because the Secretary of State's office had invalidated over three thousand signatures gathered by an imposter. The imposter, unbeknownst to MTAN, had stolen the identity of another person who did not reside in Maine, and had subsequently absconded from the state and was nowhere to be found. MTAN asked the court to "hold that when a circulator steals the identity, including name, social security number, and birth date, of another person, fraudulently obtains a driver's license, motor vehicle registration, and voter registration using that stolen identity, and falsely swears to that identity in his oath and affidavit in connection with an initiative petition, the Secretary of State must nonetheless accept the signatures obtained by that circulator."
