SP0662, LD 1730, item 5, Document Text

Amend the amendment by striking out all of section 1 and inserting the following:

‘Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §901-A, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2009, c. 341, §5, is further amended to read:

2. Required statements; placement of information. The On each page of a petition that contains space intended for voter signatures, the Secretary of State shall include a space at the top right or left corner of each petition such page to be submitted to the voters, which must be filled in with the name of the circulator collecting signatures on that petition and a unique identifying number, and include the fiscal impact of the initiative as described in Title 1, section 353 directly below the following statement at the top of the petition in a type size of no less than 16 points:

"Freedom of Citizen Information: Before a registered voter signs any initiative petition, signature gatherers must offer the voter the opportunity to read the proposed initiative summary and fiscal impact statement prepared by the Secretary of State."

’

Amend the amendment in section 2 in the indented paragraph in the last line (page 1, line 25 in amendment) by striking out the following: " of the petition to the registrar." and inserting the following: ' the petition to the registrar. If the petitions submitted to the registrar are not signed and verified in accordance with this paragraph, the registrar may not certify the petitions and is required only to return the petitions.'

Amend the amendment in section 3 in §902-A in the first paragraph by striking out all of the first sentence (page 1, lines 28 and 29 in amendment)

Amend the amendment by inserting after section 4 the following:

‘Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §903-D is enacted to read:

§ 903-D. Direct initiative and people's veto petition organization required to be registered

An organization opposed to a petition shall register with the Secretary of State in accordance with this section. For the purposes of this section, "organization opposed to a petition" means a business entity that receives compensation for organizing, supervising or managing the opposition of petitions for a direct initiative of legislation or a people's veto referendum.

1. Registration. Prior to organizing, supervising or managing the opposition of petitions for a direct initiative of legislation or a people's veto referendum, an organization opposed to a petition, in addition to meeting any other requirement to transact business in this State, shall register with the Secretary of State on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State. The registration form must include the following:

A. The ballot question or title of each direct initiative of legislation or people's veto referendum for which the organization opposed to a petition will receive compensation;

B. Contact information for the organization opposed to a petition, including the name of the organization opposed to a petition, street address or post office box, telephone number and e-mail address; and

C. The name and signature of a designated agent for the organization opposed to a petition.

The information contained in the registration must be made available for public inspection and must be posted on the publicly accessible website of the Secretary of State.

Sec. 6. 21-A MRSA §904, sub-§4, as repealed and replaced by PL 2007, c. 455, §53, is amended to read:

4. Duplicate signature. Knowingly signs the person's name more than once on initiative or referendum petitions for the same measure; or

Sec. 7. 21-A MRSA §904, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 455, §53, is amended to read:

5. False swearing; signature made in circulator's presence. Circulates an initiative or referendum petition and willfully swears that a signature to the petition was made in the circulator's presence when it was not . ; or

Sec. 8. 21-A MRSA §904, sub-§6 is enacted to read:

6. Interfere with free passage. Interferes with the free passage of circulators of petitions or members of the public signing initiatives or referendum petitions.’

Amend the amendment by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.

summary

This amendment does the following.

1. It removes language from Committee Amendment "A" requiring the circulator of a petition to affix a unique identifier to the top and bottom of each page of a petition, and instead amends existing law to require the Secretary of State to provide space on each petition page intended for signatures for the inclusion of a unique identifying number to accompany the name of the circulator.

2. It provides that if petitions are not signed and verified before being submitted to the registrar, the registrar is required only to return the petitions.

3. It removes language requiring the registrar to make a copy of each petition submitted.

4. It provides that a person commits a Class E crime if that person interferes with the free passage of circulators of petitions or members of the public signing initiatives or referendum petitions.

5. It imposes on organizations that are opposed to a petition registration requirements that are modeled on those imposed on petition organizations.

FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED

(See attached)

SP0662 LD 1730	Second Regular Session - 124th Maine Legislature S "A" to C "A", Filing Number S-478, Sponsored by TRAHAN Text: MS-Word, RTF or PDF		LR 2310 Item 5
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