SP0343, LD 1134, item 1, An Act To Make Municipal Recounts Consistent with State Recounts

An Act To Make Municipal Recounts Consistent with State Recounts

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §2102, sub-§4, ¶C, as amended by PL 1993, c. 608, §4, is further amended to read:

C. When an original or supplementary petition has been certified insufficient, the committee, within 2 days after receiving the copy of the clerk's certificate, may file a request with the municipal officers for review.

The municipal officers shall inspect the petitions in substantially the same form, manner and time as a recount hearing under section 2531-A 2531-B and shall make due certificate of that inspection. The municipal officers shall file a copy of that certificate with the municipal clerk and mail a copy to the committee. The certificate of the municipal officers is a final determination of the sufficiency of the petitions.

Sec. 2. 30-A MRSA §2354, sub-§5, as amended by PL 1993, c. 608, §5, is further amended to read:

5. Recount. Upon written application of 10% of the persons, or 100 persons, whichever is less, whose names were checked on the voting lists at any quasi-municipal corporation or district referendum held under this chapter, a ballot inspection or a recount hearing must be granted. The time limits, rules and all other matters applying to candidates under sections 2530-A and 2531-A section 2531-B apply equally to applicants for either the inspection or recount.

Sec. 3. 30-A MRSA §2530-A, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 608, §11, is repealed.

Sec. 4. 30-A MRSA §2531-A, as amended by PL 1999, c. 712, §1, is repealed.

Sec. 5. 30-A MRSA §2531-B is enacted to read:

§ 2531-B. Recount of an election for office

A recount for an election for municipal office must be performed pursuant to the provisions of Title 21-A, section 737-A and the rules adopted pursuant to Title 21-A, section 737-A, except that the provisions of Title 21-A, section 737-A, subsections 1, 5 and 12 and the duties of the State Police do not apply to this section. Except for the municipal clerk, a municipal clerk's designee or an official of a municipal police department performing an official duty in a recount, an employee or elected official of the municipality or a candidate in an election may not participate in a recount of that election under this section.

1. When deposit is required. A deposit is not required if the percentage difference shown by the official tabulation is equal to or less than:

A. Two and one-half percent, if the combined vote for the candidates is 1,000 or less;

B. Two percent, if the combined vote for the candidates is 1,001 to 5,000; or

C. One and one-half percent, if the combined vote for the candidates is 5,001 or over.

For purposes of this subsection, "percentage difference" means the difference between the percentage of the total votes for an office received by the candidate requesting a ballot inspection and the percentage of the total votes for that office received by the nearest winning candidate.

2. Amount of deposit. The amount of the deposit is determined by the clerk of the municipality and must be 50% of the reasonable estimate of the cost to the municipality performing the inspection.

3. Forfeiture or refund of deposit. All deposits required by this section must be made with the municipal clerk when a recount is requested by a losing candidate or an undeclared write-in candidate. This deposit, made by the candidate requesting the ballot inspection, is forfeited to the municipality if a subsequent recount fails to change the result of the election. If a recount changes the result of the election, the deposit must be returned to the candidate who paid the deposit. After the completion of the recount, if the recount has not changed the result of the election, the municipality shall calculate the actual cost of the procedure. If the deposit was greater than the actual cost, the overpayment must be refunded to the candidate. If the actual cost was greater than the deposit, the candidate shall pay the remainder of the actual cost to the municipality. A candidate who is not required to pay a deposit pursuant to subsection 1 may not be charged for the inspection or recount regardless of whether the procedure changes the result of the election.

Sec. 6. 30-A MRSA §2532, as amended by PL 1993, c. 608, §14, is further amended to read:

§ 2532. Referendum recount procedure

In the case of a referendum, a ballot inspection or a recount hearing must be granted upon written application of 10% or 100, whichever is less, of the persons whose names were checked on the voting list at any town referendum or ballot question under section 2105 or 2528, or any city referendum. The time limits, rules and all other matters applying to candidates under sections 2530-A and 2531-A section 2531-B apply equally to applicants for either the inspection or recount. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the method of conducting a referendum recount is governed by Title 21-A, section 737-A.

Sec. 7. 30-A MRSA §2556, as amended by PL 1993, c. 608, §16, is further amended to read:

§ 2556. Recount; challenge for office

Sections 2530-A 2531-B to 2533 apply in a city and govern ballot inspections, recounts of elections for office, referenda and the procedure for challenging a person who claims title to an office.

Sec. 8. 30-A MRSA §5404, sub-§1, ¶A, as amended by PL 1993, c. 608, §17, is further amended to read:

A. Revenue bonds of a town, as distinguished from a city, may not be issued until the general purpose for which the bonds are to be issued and the maximum principal amount of the bonds to be authorized have been approved by ballot by a majority of the votes cast on the question. The total number of votes cast must be equal to at least 20% of the total vote for all candidates for Governor cast in the municipality at the last gubernatorial election. The ballot submitted to the voters of a town to authorize the issuance of revenue bonds must state the general purpose for which the proposed bonds are to be issued and the maximum principal amount of the proposed bonds authorized to be issued. The voting at meetings held in towns must be held and conducted in accordance with sections 2528 to 2531-A 2531-B, even if the town has not accepted the provisions of section 2528.

SUMMARY

This bill makes most provisions governing recounts of state elections for office and ballot initiatives apply to recounts of municipal elections for office and referenda.

SP0343 LD 1134	First Regular Session - 125th Maine Legislature		LR 814 Item 1
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