An Act To Make Election Day a State Holiday

Sec. 1. 4 MRSA §1051,  as repealed and replaced by PL 1985, c. 819, Pt. A, §1, is amended to read:

§ 1051. Legal holidays

No court Court may not be held on Sunday or any day designated for the annual Thanksgiving; New Year's Day, January 1st; Martin Luther King, Jr. , Day, the 3rd Monday in January; Washington's Birthday, the 3rd Monday in February; Patriot's Day, the 3rd Monday in April; Memorial Day, the last Monday in May, but if the Federal Government designates May 30th as the date for observance of Memorial Day, the 30th of May; the 4th of July; Labor Day, the first Monday of September; Columbus Day, the 2nd Monday in October; the day of the general election, as defined in Title 21-A, section 1, subsection 19; Veterans' Day, November 11th; or on Christmas Day. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court may order that court be held on a legal holiday when he the Chief Justice finds that the interests of justice and judicial economy in any particular case will be served. The public offices in county buildings may be closed to business on the holidays named in this section. When any one of the holidays named in this section falls on Sunday, the Monday following shall must be observed as a holiday, with all the privileges applying to any of the days named in this section.

Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §59  is enacted to read:

§ 59.  General election day established as state holiday

The day of the general election, as defined in Title 21-A, section 1, subsection 19, is a state holiday. All nonessential state offices must be closed on the day of the general election.

Sec. 3. 9-B MRSA §145, sub-§1, ¶I-1  is enacted to read:

Sec. 4. 20-A MRSA §4802, sub-§1, ¶E-1  is enacted to read:

summary

This bill designates the day of the general election, which is the day of the regular election of state and county officials occurring biennially in November, as a state holiday.