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LD804 • 2025

An Act to Encourage Election Involvement by Making Election Day a State Holiday in Even-numbered Years

An Act to Encourage Election Involvement by Making Election Day a State Holiday in Even-numbered Years

Elections
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Representative Donald Ardell
Last action
2025-04-01
Official status
Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD)
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act to Encourage Election Involvement by Making Election Day a State Holiday in Even-numbered Years

An Act to Encourage Election Involvement by Making Election Day a State Holiday in Even-numbered Years Sponsor: Representative Donald Ardell Reference committee: State and Local Government Latest committee action: Reported Out; LTW

What This Bill Does

  • An Act to Encourage Election Involvement by Making Election Day a State Holiday in Even-numbered Years Sponsor: Representative Donald Ardell Reference committee: State and Local Government Latest committee action: Reported Out; LTW

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-04-01 Senate

    Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD)

  2. 2025-03-26 Committee

    LTW Approved by Chairs; LTW

  3. 2025-03-26 Committee

    Reported Out; LTW

  4. 2025-03-21 House

    Carried over, in the same posture, to the next special or regular session of the 132nd Legislature, pursuant to Joint Order SP 519.

  5. 2025-02-27 Committee

    Referred to Committee on State and Local Government.

Official Summary Text

An Act to Encourage Election Involvement by Making Election Day a State Holiday in Even-numbered Years
Sponsor:
Representative Donald Ardell
Reference committee:
State and Local Government
Latest committee action:
Reported Out; LTW

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
Printed on recycled paper
132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 804
H.P. 511 House of Representatives, March 4, 2025
An Act to Encourage Election Involvement by Making Election Day
a State Holiday in Even-numbered Years
Received by the Clerk of the House on February 27, 2025. Referred to the Committee on
State and Local Government pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint
Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative ARDELL of Monticello.
Cosponsored by Representatives: ALBERT of Madawaska, GUERRETTE of Caribou,
HENDERSON of Rumford, QUINT of Hodgdon, THORNE of Carmel.

Page 1 - 132LR1199(01)
1Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2Sec. 1. 4 MRSA §1051, first ¶, as repealed and replaced by PL 2021, c. 676, Pt. A,
3 §2, is amended to read:
4 Court may not be held on Sunday or any day designated for the annual Thanksgiving;
5 New Year's Day, January 1st; Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, the 3rd Monday in January;
6 Washington's Birthday, the 3rd Monday in February; Patriot's Day, the 3rd Monday in
7 April; Memorial Day, the last Monday in May, but if the Federal Government designates
8 May 30th as the date for observance of Memorial Day, the 30th of May; Juneteenth, June
9 19th; the 4th of July; Labor Day, the first Monday of September; Indigenous Peoples Day,
10 the 2nd Monday in October; the day of the general election, as defined in Title 21-A, section
11 1, subsection 19; Veterans Day, November 11th; or on Christmas Day. The Chief Justice
12 of the Supreme Judicial Court may order that court be held on a legal holiday when the
13 Chief Justice finds that the interests of justice and judicial economy in any particular case
14 will be served. The public offices in county buildings may be closed to business on the
15 holidays named in this section. When any one of the holidays named in this section falls
16 on Sunday, the Monday following must be observed as a holiday, with all the privileges
17 applying to any of the days named in this section.
18Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §60 is enacted to read:
19§60. General election day established as state holiday
20 The day of the general election, as defined in Title 21-A, section 1, subsection 19, is a
21 state holiday. All nonessential state offices must be closed on the day of the general
22 election.
23Sec. 3. 9-B MRSA §145, sub-§1, ¶I-1 is enacted to read:
24 I-1. The day of the general election, as defined in Title 21-A, section 1, subsection 19;
25Sec. 4. 20-A MRSA §4802, sub-§1, ¶E-1 is enacted to read:
26 E-1. The day of the general election, as defined in Title 21-A, section 1, subsection
27 19;
28SUMMARY
29 This bill designates the day of the general election, which is the day of the regular
30 election of state and county officials occurring biennially in November, as a state holiday.
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