Secretary of State Shenna Bellows confirmed today that the citizens’ initiative effort “An Act To Clarify the Eligibility of Voters” does not have enough signatures to move forward.

The proponents of this legislation submitted 17,622 petitions with 66,389 signatures to the Elections Division on February 26, 2021.

The Elections Division of the Bureau of Corporations, Elections, and Commissions has completed the process of certifying the petitions and found 41,075 valid signatures, while 25,323 were not valid.

A minimum of 63,067 signatures from registered Maine voters is required; thus, Secretary Bellows has found the petition to be invalid.

Petitions for this effort were issued for circulation on Aug. 26, 2019. According to the proposed bill summary, this legislation seeks to amend the voter qualification statute to emphasize that only those persons who meet the requirements listed in that section of law may vote in an election in a municipality. The requirements listed in the existing statute include that the person must be a U.S. citizen, be at least 18 years of age by the time of the general election, have established and maintain a voting residence in the municipality, and be registered to vote in that municipality.

Visit http://maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/citizens/index.html to view the proposed legislation in its entirety. 


Megan Diver

Megan has worked in Maine politics for more than ten years and all of her professional career, having served in many roles for elected officials (including former Secretary of State Charlie Summers), in-house with the Maine Association of REALTORS®, legislative specialist at Pierce Atwood LLP providing lobbying services and support to Pierce Atwood’s government relations clients and most recently senior government relations specialist at the Maine State Chamber of Commerce. Megan currently is the Vice President at the Maine Energy Marketers Association, utilizing her vast knowledge and legislative experience at the State House to represent MEMA on policies relating to the Association and its members.