Secretary of State Shenna Belllows

The citizen initiative petition regarding voter approval for certain public borrowing has been found valid the Secretary of State Shenna Bellows confirmed late last week.

The petitions for “An Act to Require Voter Approval of Certain Borrowing by Government Controlled Entities and Utilities and to Provide Voters More Information Regarding that Borrowing” had been in circulation since December 7, 2021. On December 27, 2022 the State received 28,238 petition forms with 93,837 signatures of voters who support the initiative.

State staff found 68,807 valid signatures, while 25,030 were not valid according to a press release issued last Thursday.

The initiative will now go to the Legislature for consideration, per the provisions of the Maine Constitution.  The Legislature can chooe to enact the bill as written or to send it to a statewide vote in November 2023.