C.__If a party does not choose a date pursuant to paragraph A or there is no agreement on a date pursuant to paragraph B, then the State shall hold the presidential primary election on the first Tuesday in March, or on the same date as the presidential primary election for the state of New Hampshire, whichever is earlier, provided that the election is held in the presidential election year.

§432.__Party certification

The state committee of a political party shall file the certification described in section 431, subsection 1 with the Secretary of State by December 1st of the year prior to the election.__This certification must contain the following:

1.__Statement of contest.__A statement that there is a contest among candidates for nomination as the presidential candidate of the party;

2.__Identification of contestants.__Identification of at least 2__candidates that have declared as contestants for nomination as the presidential candidate of the party; and

3.__Statement of committee vote.__A statement that the state committee of a political party has voted to conduct a presidential primary election.

§433.__Petitions

On or before July 1st of the year preceding each presidential election year, the Secretary of State shall prepare and make available petitions for circulation by a person desiring to be a contestant in the Maine presidential primary of any party.__This petition must be completed and filed 45 days before the primary election in the manner provided in sections 335 and 336.

§434.__Ballot preparation

The Secretary of State shall prepare ballots for the presidential primary election in accordance with section 601-A.

§435.__Candidate eligibility

1.__Petitions.__The ballots must include the name of a person who files with the Secretary of State a petition obtained under section 433 and completed in accordance with sections 335 and 336.__The Secretary of State shall determine if a petition meets the requirements of those sections, subject to challenge and appeal under section 337.

2.__Secretary of State determination.__The following provisions govern the Secretary of State's selection of presidential candidates to appear on the ballot.

A.__A ballot must include the name of a person who is a member of a political party that has qualified under subchapter I and who has been determined by the Secretary of State, in the Secretary of State's sole discretion, to be generally advocated or recognized as a presidential candidate of nationwide stature in the national news media throughout the United States.__This subsection may not be construed to include so-called "favorite son" candidates whose candidacy may be limited to one state.

B.__The Secretary of State shall determine who will be placed on the ballot under this subsection at least 30 days before the ballots are prepared.__The Secretary of State shall promptly notify a person that the person's name will appear on the ballot and advise that person of the steps that the person must take if the person does not wish to appear on the ballot.

C.__A person who the Secretary of State determines should be placed on the ballot under this subsection may have the person's name withdrawn from the ballot by filing an affidavit with the Secretary of State in which the person designated swears an oath that the person requests that the person's name be omitted from the ballot.

In order to remove a person's name from the ballot, the affidavit must be received by the Secretary of State at least 45 days before the date designated for the presidential primary election.

§436.__Selection of delegates

If a party chooses to participate in a presidential primary election under this chapter, delegates to national presidential nominating conventions are selected by the state parties meeting in convention under subchapter I, article III at any time after the presidential primary.

The methods and procedures for selection of delegates must be according to reasonable procedures established at the state party convention.__In the absence of any procedures established by state or national party rules, the allocation must be as follows.

1.__Proportional allocation.__Delegates to the national convention must be allocated proportionately among the candidate votes and the uncommitted votes cast in the presidential primary of the party.

A.__A candidate receiving 10% or more of the total votes for candidates or uncommitted is allocated a share of delegates that approaches, as closely as possible, the respective share of the total vote.

B.__The percentages of votes attributable to candidates receiving less than 10% of the total vote must be added to the total percentage of uncommitted votes for the purpose of allocating delegates.

2.__Uncommitted delegates.__A delegate elected as an uncommitted delegate may support any presidential candidate at any time and may change support for this candidate in the delegate's sole discretion.

3.__Committed delegates.__A delegate elected for a particular presidential candidate according to the proportional allocation specified by this section shall vote for that candidate on the first ballot at the national nominating convention, unless the state committee of the party affirmatively votes to follow another procedure or if, prior to the filing of the certification under section 431 and 432, the candidate for whom a particular delegate is elected specifically withdraws, as verified by the chair of the national party, from consideration for the presidential nomination at any time before the first ballot at the national nominating convention.

§437.__Cost

Whenever a municipality complies with the provisions of this subchapter, the State shall bear the cost incurred.

§438.__Effective date

This subchapter takes effect July 1, 2003.

Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §601-A, as amended by PL 1999, c. 426, §18, is further amended to read:

§601-A. Presidential primary ballot

The Secretary of State shall prepare the presidential preference primary ballots according to the following provisions.

1. Arrangement. The ballot must be arranged in a manner that is as consistent and uniform as possible throughout the State.

2. Content. The ballot must contain the items listed in this section.

A. Instructions must be printed in bold type at the top of the ballot informing the voter how to designate the voter's choice on the ballot.

B. The ballot must contain the name, without any title, and place of residence of each candidate, arranged alphabetically with the last name first in block capital letters, followed by the first name and middle name or initial, or followed by the first name or first initial and the middle name. The name of each candidate may be printed on the ballot in only one space.

D. There must be a place on the ballot for the voter to designate the voter's choice.

E. There must be a heading on the ballot that contains the title of the election, the name of the political party, the name of the voting district or districts for which the ballot was prepared, the date of the election and a facsimile of the state seal.

F. At the end of the list of candidates for nomination, there must be printed the word "uncommitted" in such a way that a voter may choose this preference rather than a listed candidate.

G. At the end of the list of candidates for nomination and after the "uncommitted" option, there may not be any blank spaces left where a voter could write in the name or place a sticker containing the name of any person for whom a voter desires to vote.

3. Distinctively colored. The ballots must be printed separately for each political party on paper of a distinctive color: white for the party that cast the greatest number of votes for Governor at the last gubernatorial election and yellow for the 2nd highest. The Secretary of State shall choose a distinctive color for ballots for any other political party.

SUMMARY

This bill amends the presidential primary process by allowing the parties to choose whether they want a primary or a caucus and allows uncommitted voters to vote in a primary.