Maine Secretary of State
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The Maine Secretary of State is the state's chief elections officer. The secretary of state is also responsible for the Maine State Archives, as well as for chartering corporations. The Secretary of State is elected to four year terms, concurrent with the other constitutional officers of Maine, and is restricted by term limits to only two terms.
The current officeholder is Matthew Dunlap.
Role in the initiative process
Filing the initiative
The voter must submit a written application to the secretary of state which contains the names, addresses and signatures of 5 Maine registered voters. One of these voters must volunteer be responsible for receiving all the correspondence regarding the initiative. This application must be signed in the presence of the Secretary of State or a notary public and the full text of the initiative must be submitted with application.
Within 10 business days the secretary of state must review the application, reject, accept or provide a revised draft of the initiative legislation according to its legality and if it meets format guidelines. Upon reviewing this the applicant must sign their approval of the final language.
After receiving written consent from the applicant, the secretary of state must provide the ballot question to the applicant within 10 business days. Then Elections Division will provide an approved petition form to be circulated by the petitioners.
Verification and certification
The secretary of state shall review all petitions filed in the Department of the Secretary of State for a people's veto referendum under the Constitution of Maine.
The secretary of state shall determine the validity of the petition and issue a written decision stating the reasons for the decision within 30 days after the final date for filing.
The elections division
The Maine secretary of state is responsible for the state's election division. As such, the secretary of state's website contains comprehensive information about the state's initiatives, along with election results, a history of all initiatives ever to appear on the ballot in Maine, and other important information. See external links below for further information.
Contact Information
Office of the Secretary
Matthew Dunlap, Secretary of State
148 State House Station
Augusta, Maine 04333-0148
Tel:207-626-8400
Fax:207-287-8598
See also
External links
- Citizen's Initiatives, on the SOS's official website
- Election Results, on the SOS's official website
- List of Secretaries of State of Maine
- Official Maine Secretary of State site
References
Portions of this article were taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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