Initiative Ballot Question / Public Comment

Among the items that will be presented to the voters at the November 4, 2014 Referendum Election, is a Direct Initiative of Legislation (i.e. Citizen Initiative). Under Maine's Constitution, the Secretary of State is responsible for preparing the ballots for direct initiatives “in such form as to present the question or questions concisely and intelligibly.” Below is the Secretary of State's final ballot question for the initiative that will appear on the November 4, 2014 ballot.

Final Initiative Ballot Question:  “Do you want to ban the use of bait, dogs or traps in bear hunting except to protect property, public safety, or for research?”

Proposed Initiative Ballot Question: "Do you want to ban bear hunting using bait, traps or dogs except to protect property, public safety or for research?"

Maine law, Title 21-A §905-A, requires that the Secretary of State ?provide a 30-day public comment period for the purpose of receiving comments on the content and form of proposed questions to be placed on the ballot for any pending initiatives.?

The language of the Citizen Initative which became Legislative Document 1845 "An Act To Prohibit the Use of Dogs, Bait or Traps When Hunting Bears Except under Certain Circumstances" can be viewed by selecting one of the links below.

(Legislation HTML version - Legislation PDF version)