An effort is underway to give Maine citizens the right to elect their constitutional officers, including the Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Treasurer.
Currently, lawmakers in the House and Senate are responsible for selecting individuals to fill these critical roles, with votes held every two years during the Legislature’s First Regular Session.
Nationwide, Maine is one of only a handful of states to this, making it the exception rather than the rule.
A group of Republican lawmakers, however, have now proposed a series of amendments to the state constitution that would allow Mainers to popularly elect who serves in these positions.
These amendments — LDs 147, 149, and 150 — were all sponsored by House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor).
Cosponsoring the proposed amendments were Rep. Donald J. Ardell (R-Monticello), Rep. Richard H. Campbell (R-Orrington), Rep. Laurel D. Libby (R-Auburn), Rep. Mathew David McIntyre (R-Lowell), Rep. Joshua Morris (R-Turner), Rep. Katrina J. Smith (R-Palermo), Rep. James E. Thorne (R-Carmel), and Rep. William R. Tuell (R-East Machias).
In December of last year, both Shenna Bellows and Aaron Frey were reelected to their respective positions as Secretary of State and Attorney General.
State Rep. Joe Perry (D-Bangor) was chosen to serve as State Treasurer after beating out former Gorham representative Maureen Terry (D).
Although Republican lawmakers put forward alternative candidates for Attorney General and Secretary of State, they did not offer a challenger for State Treasurer.
[RELATED: Democrats Stick with Bellows, Frey as Legislature Appoints Constitutional Officers]
According to Ballotpedia — known as the “encyclopedia of American politics” — Maine is one of only seven states where the Attorney General is not popularly elected and one of only twelve states where the Secretary of State and State Treasurer are not popularly elected.
States throughout the rest of the country allow their citizens to directly elect the people who serve in these important roles, making Maine’s policy a national outlier.
Maine Republicans have been advocating to give citizens the right to popularly elect their constitutional officers for some time now.
In 2022, House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) issued a statement speaking out against the state’s practice of having lawmakers select the people who serve in these roles.
“Maine should do what most of the rest of the country does – have our Constitutional Officers directly elected by the people, not party insiders,” said Rep. Faulkingham.
“Maine has a long tradition of electing independent leaders that are beholden to Maine voters,” he said. “House Republicans will propose making this important change to our laws to take power away from politicians and give it to Maine citizens.”
That said, amending Maine’s Constitution is not an easy task. In order to advance an amendment, at least two-thirds of the members in both the House and Senate must vote in support of the proposal.
Most kinds of legislation can be passed with just a simple majority, and today, proposals are often advanced with only partisan, or nearly partisan, support.
Given this, the bar for constitutional amendments is set exceptionally high, especially in today’s political climate.
Should an amendment ultimately gain enough support in the Legislature, it is then sent to voters for final ratification.
Despite the tough standards for amending Maine’s Constitution, there are numerous precedents of such changes.
As of November 2023, 117 amendments to Maine’s Constitution had been approved, with the first being ratified in 1834.
Most recently, voters ratified two amendments in the November 2023 election. Both amendments, however, were largely administrative in nature, making them substantially less divisive than many policy-heavy proposals.
For example, during the previous legislative session, Democratic lawmakers unsuccessfully attempted to advance an amendment that would have enshrined a right to abortion in the state’s constitution.
Despite being supported by all Democratic members of the House and Senate, Republicans’ united opposition to the proposal prevented it from surpassing the high bar set by the two-thirds threshold.
All three of the recently proposed amendments that seek to give Mainers the right to popularly elect their constitutional officers have been referred to the Legislature’s Committee on State and Local Government.
In the coming weeks and months, these proposals will receive public hearings where Mainers will have a chance to make their voices heard.
Want to Read the Proposed Amendments? Check Out the Links Below:
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="34028 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=34028">8 Comments
Party insiders have failed!!! Let us elect those in charge.
Get rid of this DICATORSHIP
That would spell the end of the Bellows woman .
She isn’t needed or wanted here anymore .
Let her take her stupid pine tree flag and her George Soros diploma and go away
Sheena Bellows is one of Augusta’s worst .
She will never win an election here in Maine .
Big Whoop! Czarina Mills got voted in Twice.
Yes, about time…. let’s get rid of ranked choice voting and give the voting rights back to the people . It would be a breath of fresh air to be able to choose these very important positions by “we the people” of Maine. So yes, new amendments… nothing at all wrong with making it ok for us to vote for these important offices. No more Soros, or DEI in Maine gov’t. BTW someone should look into all that spending, just to make sure that there is no corruption in the state of Maine.
Shit can em all. And start over
it is a good idea unfortunately the people that have moved here for Massachusetts will decide the election results. We probably aren’t gonna get much better than what’s in there right now.
I don’t agree that the entire blame goes to the people from away.
I think a good portion of the real Maine voters get their information from tainted slanted news sources .
All the newspapers and all the television stations, are controlled by the Democratic Cabal .
The people just nod their heads and believe what they are told .
“ Forgive them for they know not what they do “
THAT TIME for forgiveness IS OVER !
Gobankrates.com lists maine as having the 5th highest living wage requirement for a family of four in the US. Hawaii, Alaska, NY and Mass were the highest. Be sure to thank janet and her stooges running this state during the next election.