Q: What happens when an elected officeholder — a state senator, for example — runs for another office, such as U.S. House? Does the candidate lose the seat he or she holds?
A: The candidate would keep the seat he or she currently holds until the end of the term. If the terms overlap, the candidate would have to resign the seat he or she currently holds before taking the oath for the new office. Under Maine law, a candidate can’t run for more than one office in the same election.
Q: What do the U.S. Senate and House candidates have to do to get on the ballot?
A: The candidates have to obtain nominating petitions from the Secretary of State’s office and collect the signatures of registered voters in the district they want to represent.
Q: How many signatures do the candidates need?
A: A party candidate for U.S. Senate has to collect at least 2,000 but no more than 3,000 signatures to get on the primary ballot. A party candidate for the U.S. House has to collect at least 1,000 but no more than 1,500 signatures. To get on the general election ballot, a non-party, or independent, candidate must collect at least 4,000 but no more than 6,000 signatures to run for U.S. Senate and at least 2,000 but no more than 3,000 signatures to run for the U.S. House.
Q: Who circulates these petitions?
A: Anyone who supports a candidate can circulate a petition. The circulators don’t have to be Maine residents or even registered voters. However, they are required to personally witness every signature and must take an oath that they did so when they turn in the signed petitions.
Q: When are the petitions due?
A: Petitions are due by March 15 for party candidates running in the primary election. Petitions are due by June 1 for non-party candidates, who don’t run in a primary.
Q: Can I sign more than one petition?
A: Yes. You can sign as many petitions as you’d like for candidates in your party who are seeking to represent your district. You can also sign an independent’s petition, whether or not you are enrolled in a party. But you can sign any one candidate’s petition only once.
Q: When are the elections?
A: The primary elections are June 12, and the general election is Nov. 6.
— From staff reports
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.