Bill > LD1517

This bill modifies various Maine state laws to reduce participation thresholds for certain school, municipal, and county measures, making it easier for these measures to be approved. Specifically, the bill lowers the required percentage of total gubernatorial election votes needed for a measure to be considered valid, and changes the requirement from a percentage of total votes cast to a percentage of votes in favor of the measure. These changes apply to multiple types of local and regional actions, including school district withdrawals, community school district changes, school budget formats, county bond issuances, municipal charter modifications, town assessor selections, municipal revenue bond issuances, municipal power district incorporations, and the creation of sanitary and watershed districts. In most cases, the bill reduces the required participation threshold from ranges between 20% and 50% down to ranges between 5% and 25%, while maintaining that a majority of votes must be in favor of the measure. The goal appears to be making local democratic processes more accessible by lowering barriers to voter participation and approval of local initiatives.

Government Affairs

https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/display_ps.asp?LD=1517&snum=132