Does Section 19 of L.D. 1892 (the Compact for Maine's Forests) need a two-thirds vote to be enacted as a competing measure?

Plain-English summary

Two weeks before this opinion, Attorney General Andrew Ketterer told Senate President Jeffrey Butland that a competing measure to initiated legislation needs only a simple majority (Op. Me. Att'y Gen. 96-8). The Legislature then took up L.D. 1892, "An Act to Implement the Compact for Maine's Forests," which was to be the competing measure on the November ballot opposite the citizen initiative L.D. 1819, "An Act to Promote Forest Rehabilitation and Eliminate Clearcutting."

Butland came back with a follow-up: did the general answer from the August 13 opinion apply specifically to Section 19 of L.D. 1892? Section 19 was the procedural section that described how the Compact would actually be put before voters: when the election would be, what the ballot question would say, how the votes would be counted, and how the result would be proclaimed.

The AG walked through the six provisions of Section 19 one by one and concluded each merely restated something already required by either the Maine Constitution or existing election statutes. Submitting the Act to voters at the November election was already required by Me. Const. art. IV, pt. 3, § 18(2). Notice to municipal officers tracked 21-A M.R.S.A. §§ 621-623. The ballot-question wording was authorized by the same constitutional clause and by 21-A M.R.S.A. § 906(6)(D), which (unlike § 906(6)(B) for initiated measures) does not assign Secretary of State responsibility for the wording on a competing measure. Cross/check marking, ballot counting, and gubernatorial proclamation were all already covered by existing statute and by Me. Const. art. IV, pt. 3, § 19.

Because none of Section 19's provisions needed to take effect within 90 days of enactment (each was either constitutionally mandated immediate effect or already in force), no part of Section 19 was emergency legislation. The bill could be enacted by a simple majority.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1996. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

What was L.D. 1892, the Compact for Maine's Forests?

A forest-practices bill the Legislature passed as its alternative to the citizen-initiated clearcutting ban (L.D. 1819). It was placed on the November 1996 ballot as a competing measure, so voters chose among the initiated bill, the Compact, or rejecting both.

Why did Section 19 matter so much that it needed its own AG opinion?

Section 19 was the operational plumbing for putting the Compact before voters: it scheduled the election, scripted the ballot question, and set the counting rules. If any of its provisions had to take effect within 90 days of enactment to make the November ballot, that piece might have required emergency legislation and a two-thirds vote, which would have been a much harder lift politically.

What is the ballot question the AG quoted?

"Do you favor enactment of the Compact for Maine's Forests to promote sustainable forest management practices throughout the State?"

Why was the wording authority allocated differently for competing measures than for initiatives?

21-A M.R.S.A. § 906(6)(B) tells the Secretary of State to write the wording for initiated questions. § 906(6)(D) is silent on who writes the wording for a competing measure, leaving it to the Legislature itself to specify in the enacting statute. So Section 19 wrote the question into the law of the Compact directly.

If voters approved the Compact, when would it take effect?

Section 19 of L.D. 1892 provided that once the Governor reviewed the returns and found a majority in favor, the Governor would proclaim that result without delay and the Act would take effect January 1, 1997. The opinion noted this tracked Me. Const. art. IV, pt. 3, § 19, under which a referred measure approved by the voters becomes law on the timetable tied to the Governor's proclamation.

Background and statutory framework

The competing-measure framework lives in Me. Const. art. IV, pt. 3, § 18(2). Section 19 prescribes the gubernatorial proclamation rules for any measure approved by the voters, and Section 20 directs the Secretary of State to prepare ballots "concisely and intelligibly" until otherwise provided by the Legislature. The election machinery is in Title 21-A of the Maine Revised Statutes. Op. Me. Att'y Gen. 96-8 (the August 13 companion) supplied the general rule that competing measures need only a simple majority.

Citations

• Me. Const. art. IV, pt. 3, § 18(2) (initiated and competing measures)
• Me. Const. art. IV, pt. 3, § 19 (gubernatorial proclamation of voter-approved measures)
• Me. Const. art. IV, pt. 3, § 20 (Secretary of State to prepare ballots)
• 21-A M.R.S.A. §§ 621-623 (notification of statewide elections)
• 21-A M.R.S.A. § 695 (counting of ballots)
• 21-A M.R.S.A. § 711 (returns to Secretary of State)
• 21-A M.R.S.A. § 906(1) (cross/check mark voting)
• 21-A M.R.S.A. § 906(6) (ballot question wording)
• 21-A M.R.S.A. § 906(6)(B) (Secretary of State writes initiative question wording)
• 21-A M.R.S.A. § 906(6)(D) (competing measure wording not assigned to Secretary)
• L.D. 1819 (citizen-initiated clearcutting ban)
• L.D. 1892 (the Compact for Maine's Forests, the competing measure)
• Op. Me. Att'y Gen. 96-8 (August 13, 1996; companion ruling on competing-measure vote threshold)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.maine.gov/legis/lawlib/lldl/agops/agops.htm
• Original PDF: https://lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/AG/Opinions/1996/ag_19960830.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain, the linked PDF is authoritative.

96-10

ANDREW KETTERER
ATTORNEY GENERAL

STATE OF MAINE
DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
6 STATE HOUSE STATION
AUGUSTA, MAINE 04333-0006

August 30, 1996

The Honorable Jeffrey H. Butland
President, Maine Senate
3 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0003

Dear President Butland:

I am writing in response to your request of August 26, 1996, in which you ask whether the August 13th opinion of this office, concluding that a simple majority is sufficient to enact a competing measure to initiated legislation, would extend to Section 19 of L.D. 1892, "An Act to Implement the Compact for Maine's Forests." Section 19 describes the procedures by which the Act is to be submitted to the voters at the next general election in November as a competing measure with the initiated bill, L.D. 1819, "An Act to Promote Forest Rehabilitation and Eliminate Clearcutting." For the reasons which follow, it is the opinion of this Department that because the terms of Section 19 mirror the existing requirements applicable to competing measures contained in the Maine Constitution and statutes, there is no provision in Section 19 which requires adoption by a two thirds vote.

Section 19 contains six provisions. First, it states that the Act is to be submitted to the voters at this November's general election together with the initiated bill. This requirement is already established by Article IV, Part Third, Section 18(2) of the Maine Constitution, which provides in pertinent part:

The [initiated] measure thus proposed, unless enacted without change by the Legislature at the session at which it is presented, shall be submitted to the electors together with any amended form, substitute, or recommendation of the Legislature, and in such manner that the people can choose between the competing measures or reject both.

Second, Section 19 requires the State's municipal officers to notify the inhabitants of their respective cities, towns, and plantations to meet in the manner prescribed for holding a statewide election to vote on acceptance or rejection of the Act. This provision simply refers to the established statutory requirements governing the announcing of elections contained in 21-A M.R.S.A. §§ 621-623 (1993 & Supp. 1995).

Third, the last part of the first paragraph of Section 19 prescribes the question to be placed on the ballot for approval or disapproval of the competing measure, which is to read as follows: "Do you favor enactment of the Compact for Maine's Forests to promote sustainable forest management practices throughout the State?" The Maine Constitution provides that an initiated measure is to be submitted "to the electors together with any amended form, substitute or recommendation of the Legislature" (Article 4, Part Third, Section 18(2)), and further provides (Section 20) that "until otherwise provided by the Legislature, the Secretary of State shall prepare the ballots in such form as to present the question or questions concisely and intelligibly." Specification of the wording of the question relating to the competing measure is consistent with these constitutional requirements as well as the statutory provisions governing the wording of the ballot found in 21-A M.R.S.A. § 906(6) (Supp. 1995). Clearly a question reflecting the competing measure must be prepared for inclusion on the ballot, and while § 906(6)(B) makes the Secretary of State responsible for the wording of the ballot question with respect to an initiative, it does not make the Secretary responsible for wording the question with respect to any competing measure. See § 906(6)(D).

Fourth, Section 19 provides that the voters shall vote on the question by ballot, designating their choice by a cross or check mark below the word "Yes" or "No." This requirement already exists in 21-A M.R.S.A. § 906(1) (Supp. 1995).

Fifth, Section 19 requires that the ballots be received, sorted, counted and declared in open ward, town and plantation meetings and returns made to the Secretary of State in the same manner as votes for members of the Legislature. This is simply a general description of the detailed procedures for the counting of ballots by election officials and the preparation of returns to the Secretary of State set forth in 21-A M.R.S.A. §§ 695, 711 (1993).

Finally, Section 19 provides that the Governor shall review the returns, and if it appears that a majority of the legal votes are cast in favor of the Act, the Governor "shall proclaim that fact without delay, and the Act takes effect January 1, 1997." The substance of these requirements is contained in Article IV, Part Third, Section 19 of the Maine Constitution, which provides in pertinent part:

Any measure referred to the people and approved by a majority of the votes given thereon shall, unless a later date is specified in said measure, take effect and become a law in 30 days after the Governor has made public proclamation of the result of the vote on said measure, which he shall do within 10 days after the vote thereon has been canvassed and determined[.]

Thus the substance of each of the requirements contained in Section 19 is already controlling law, by provision of either the Constitution or state statute. Accordingly, there is no term of Section 19 which must take effect less than 90 days after enactment of L.D. 1892 so as to require emergency legislation and a two thirds vote.

I hope the foregoing answers your question.

Sincerely,

ANDREW KETTERER
Attorney General