An Act to Require the Legislature to Elect Constitutional Officers and the State Auditor in Convention with an Open Ballot System

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132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 1193
S.P. 482 In Senate, March 20, 2025
An Act to Require the Legislature to Elect Constitutional Officers
and the State Auditor in Convention with an Open Ballot System
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator BENNETT of Oxford.
Cosponsored by Representative WARREN of Scarborough and
Representative: CARLOW of Buxton.

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1Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §81, as amended by PL 1977, c. 674, §1, is further amended by
3 amending the section headnote to read:
4§81. Office and duties; vacancy; salary; expenses; fees; election convention
5Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §81, as amended by PL 1977, c. 674, §1, is further amended by
6 enacting at the end a new paragraph to read:
7 A convention that is held by the Legislature to elect the Secretary of State pursuant to
8 the Constitution of Maine, Article V, Part Second, Section 1 must be open to the public and
9 the vote of each voting Senator and Representative must be recorded and made available
10 for public inspection.
11Sec. 3. 5 MRSA §121, as amended by PL 2005, c. 683, Pt. C, §1, is further amended
12 by amending the section headnote to read:
13§121. Office; bond; salary; deputy; fees; election convention
14Sec. 4. 5 MRSA §121, as amended by PL 2005, c. 683, Pt. C, §1, is further amended
15 by enacting at the end a new paragraph to read:
16 A convention that is held by the Legislature to elect the Treasurer of State pursuant to
17 the Constitution of Maine, Article V, Part Third, Section 1 must be open to the public and
18 the vote of each voting Senator and Representative must be recorded and made available
19 for public inspection.
20Sec. 5. 5 MRSA §191-A, as corrected by RR 2023, c. 2, Pt. B, §26, is amended to
21 read:
22§191-A. Transition Election convention; transition period
23 A convention that is held by the Legislature to elect the Attorney General pursuant to
24 the Constitution of Maine, Article IX, Section 11 must be open to the public and the vote
25 of each voting Senator and Representative must be recorded and made available for public
26 inspection.
27 In order to provide for an orderly transition following the biennial election of the
28 Attorney General, the Attorney General-elect may not take the oath of office or otherwise
29 qualify for the office for a period of no less than 30 days following that election.
30Sec. 6. 5 MRSA §241, as amended by PL 2015, c. 44, §3, is further amended by
31 amending the section headnote to read:
32§241. State Auditor; election convention; salary
33Sec. 7. 5 MRSA §241, first ¶, as amended by PL 2013, c. 16, §1, is further amended
34 to read:
35 The State Auditor is the head of the Office of the State Auditor. The State Auditor must
36 be a certified public accountant or a college graduate with not less than 6 years of
37 experience as a professional accountant or auditor, including not less than 5 years of
38 auditing experience, of which not less than 4 years must have been in a supervisory
39 capacity. The State Auditor must be elected by the Legislature by a joint ballot of the
40 Senators and Representatives in convention and . The convention must be open to the public
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41 and the vote of each voting Senator and Representative must be recorded and made
42 available for public inspection. The State Auditor holds office for a term of 4 years or until
43 a successor is elected and qualified. The State Auditor shall exercise such the powers and
44 perform such the duties as are set forth in this chapter. In case the office of State Auditor
45 becomes vacant during a period when the Legislature is not in session, the appointment of
46 a person to fill such the vacancy must be made immediately by the President of the Senate
47 or, if that office is vacant, by the Speaker of the House, and the person appointed holds that
48 office until such time as the Legislature meets in regular or special session, and either
49 confirm confirms the appointment of the person or chooses another person to fill the office
50 during the unexpired term.
11SUMMARY
12 This bill requires that the conventions held by the Legislature to elect the Secretary of
13 State, the Treasurer of State, the Attorney General and the State Auditor must be open to
14 the public and the vote of each voting Senator and Representative must be recorded.
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