AUGUSTA, MAINE – Secretary Shenna Bellows today responded to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirming the decision to invalidate petitions submitted by four petition circulators hired by the proponents of the citizen initiative titled “An Act to Designate School Sports Participation and Facilities by Sex.” The four circulators do not reside in Maine and did not, in their circulator affidavits submitted with the petition signatures, consent to the jurisdiction of the Maine courts as required.
“Citizen initiatives are a powerful tool of direct democracy in our state, and Maine voters should have just as much confidence in petition integrity as they do in the security of our elections. This petition did not meet the legal requirements for inclusion and therefore did not qualify for the ballot after our legal review. I am grateful but not surprised by the court’s ruling affirming our decision,” said Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.
The court's written ruling reads, in part:
“In sum, the requirement that out-of-state circulators consent to jurisdiction is not, as the committee argues, a novel rule created by the Secretary without enabling authority. Rather, by requiring out-of-state circulators to take an oath that they will submit to the jurisdiction of Maine, the Secretary is complying with the Maine Constitution and Maine statutes to the extent not precluded by federal restrictions. Her authority—and her duty—to impose the oath comes from the Maine Constitution and her own oath to adhere to its provisions. The Secretary thus did not err by requiring petition circulators to consent by affidavit to Maine jurisdiction and by invalidating the signatures collected by petition circulators who have not so consented.”
The initiative’s proponents have also challenged the Secretary of State’s decision in U.S. District Court.
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