The Maine State Legislature this week killed the effort to give Mainers the opportunity to directly elect their constitutional officers, including the Attorney General and Secretary of State.
Currently, lawmakers in the House and Senate are responsible for selecting individuals to fill these constitutionally-defined 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 do this, making it the exception rather than the rule.
Toward the beginning of this legislative session, a series of Republican-backed resolutions were introduced aiming to give voters the opportunity to directly elect their constitutional officers.
Separated into three resolutions — all sponsored by House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) and cosponsored by a number of other Republican lawmakers — each addressed the selection of a different constitutional officer.
After being put through their paces by the State and Local Government Committee, LDs 147, 149, and 150 emerged with majority support.
Another resolution, cosponsored by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, sought to combine these three bills into a single piece of legislation.
After receiving a public hearing and work session, LD 508 also earned majority support from the same group of Committee members.
Although both approaches advance the same changes to Maine’s constitution, putting three separate proposals before voters for ratification could potentially result in some constitutional officers becoming directly elected and some remaining within the Legislature’s control.
After LDs 147, 149, and 150 were rejected, the consolidated LD 508 was sent on a course toward rejection as well, albeit a less direct one.
When asked to vote on the majority Ought to Pass as Amended report, Senators were tied, resulting in a failed motion.
A vote on the minority Ought Not to Pass report was then tabled until Tuesday when it was ultimately accepted without a roll call vote.
On Wednesday, House lawmakers voted in support of an amended version of the bill that added a clause that would result in these elections being conducted with ranked choice voting.
The Committee’s majority Ought to Pass report was accepted in a roll call vote of 73-70 in which a handful of Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in support of the bill.
House Amendment A, requiring that these elections be conducted using ranked choice voting, was then approved in a nearly party-line roll call vote of 76-65.
LD 508 was then sent back to the Senate in non-concurrence. Both chambers then agreed to indefinitely postpone consideration of the bill, officially spelling defeat for the legislation.
In December of last year, both Shenna Bellows and Aaron Frey were reelected by legislators 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.
[RELATED: Mainers Set to Weigh In on Popular Election of Constitutional Officers at April 7 Public Hearing]
In 2022, House Minority Leader Faulkingham 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 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.”
Following this week’s votes in the House and Senate, however, Mainers will not be given the chance to choose their own constitutional officers any time soon.
