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| Senate Votes to Register Paid Signature Gatherers | | 3/25/2010 11:10:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | In Maine government β
by Christine Parrish
Feature Writer
In an effort to address ballot fraud, the Maine Senate voted yes on Monday for legislation (LD 1730) that would require signature gatherers to register with the state and undergo more scrutiny if they are circulating petitions to put a citizen referendum on the ballot. The House of Representatives will take up the legislation next, then it will return to the Senate for a second vote.
In spite of a common perception that people's vetoes and citizen referendums are home-grown affairs drawn up by concerned citizens who volunteer to collect signatures, big money and politics are often involved in the process.
For example, paid signature gatherers played a large role in recent efforts to get legislation on gay marriage overturned by "people's veto." National Petition Management, one of the top signature-gathering firms in the country, was paid $308,000 to collect signatures to put the people's veto of the same-sex marriage law on the ballot last year. That ballot measure passed last November, effectively outlawing same-sex marriage just months after it went into law.
The people's veto to overturn the tax reform bill that was passed by the Maine Legislature last year got on the June 2010 ballot with the help of the Republican Party and Olympic Consulting in Lewiston. The Maine Republican Party donated $29,000 to a group called Still Fed Up With Taxes, who, in turn, paid Olympic Consulting and a long list of street-level signature gatherers over $66,000 to collect enough signatures to put a people's veto on the June ballot.
Paying people to collect signatures is legal in Maine, and it is also legal to pay signatures gatherers by the signature, but it is a lack of regulation and oversight of the process that has earned Maine a grade of D from the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, who tracks ballot integrity in all 50 states. The BISC, an organization focused on uncovering fraud, found that Maine did a poor job of dissuading frivolous legislation, needed much greater accountability of companies and individuals who circulate petitions, and better oversight of how that data is collected.
Citizen initiatives in Maine currently require 55,087 signatures to be collected before they can be approved to be placed on the state ballot. To reach that threshold, proponents often hire signature-collecting companies, who often subcontract to local companies to go out and circulate petitions. Temporary employees, some of whom are paid by the signature, are then assigned to an area to collect signatures. They are often found on the corner of busy main streets during the summer, at supermarkets, transfer stations on Saturdays, and at county fairs.
LD 1730, An Act to Strengthen the Ballot Initiative Process, sponsored by Senator John Nutting, an Androscoggin County Democrat, would allow petitions to be tracked by requiring the following:
-Each petition circulator, their parent company and subcontractors would be registered with the state
-Each petition would have a unique number and the initials of the circulator
-Petitions must be signed and notarized before being submitted to a town clerk for signature verification
-Town clerks would copy all petitions submitted for verification
Other provisions in the bill adjust the time allowed to challenge the veracity of petitions.
The bill is expected to pass the House this week or next, but is open to change before its final vote in the Senate.
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