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Maine Voices

Proposal protects and strengthens a fundamental right of democracy

Cliff Ginn Special to the Press Herald

PORTLAND – As the Maine Legislature considers bills to modify the citizen initiative and people's veto process, it should emphasize transparency without burdening citizens' fundamental right to direct democracy.

In particular, Mainers should support LD 1690, An Act To Prevent Predatory Signature Gathering and Ensure a Clean Citizen Initiative and People's Veto Process. It gives voters more information and control over their role in direct democracy.

The rights of citizen initiative and people's veto, guaranteed under Maine's Constitution, have allowed citizen movements to make wide-ranging improvements in state policy.

Just over three years ago, I joined hundreds of Opportunity Maine volunteers all over the state to gather close to 70,000 signatures for what came to be called the ''Opportunity Maine initiative.''

The proposal to wipe out student loan debt for Maine college graduates via a state income tax credit was approved for the November 2007 ballot. But for only the sixth time in state history, the Legislature passed it outright.

INCREASING TRANSPARENCY

The Opportunity Maine story illustrates the value of the initiative process. It is a complement to, not a substitute for, the legislative process.

There have been abuses, however, in some people's exercise of their fundamental right to place questions on the ballot. In recent years, there have been reliable reports of fraud, including outright forgery of signatures. Paid signature gatherers have been lying to voters about the content of initiatives and people's veto petitions, exceeding the bounds of ordinary political hyperbole.

LD 1690 focuses on addressing these abuses without burdening Mainers' fundamental right of direct democracy. It requires paid signature gathering organizations to register with the state, to increase transparency. These companies operate in multiple states, and some have engaged in systematic abuses. Giving voters information about the companies can only improve the process.

LD 1690 would also allow a voter who has signed a petition to rescind that signature within a reasonable time period. This is the most effective way to keep signature gatherers honest. Any signature gatherer who lies or exaggerates about the contents of an initiative or people's veto petition risks losing signatures.

Any other approach to the problem of signature gatherer distortions would involve regulating political speech.

BURDENSOME FIXES REJECTED

Our state and federal constitutions rightly limit the ability of the state to police the truth of political speech, and giving Maine voters power over their own role in the process is the better course.

The bill also allows a few more days for citizens to examine petitions for signs of duplication, signature fraud and so on. It makes signature petitions, which are already public documents, available electronically. In general, public documents should be available electronically, though street addresses should be eliminated to prevent improper use of electronic lists.

While LD 1690 is a reasoned response to recent abuses, some legislative initiatives have sought to burden Mainers' fundamental right to direct democracy. Bills have sought to increase Maine's already-high signature requirements, to require initiatives to include details about funding and program impacts that would make it almost impossible for ordinary citizens to bring initiative campaigns.

Other bills have also gone too far in trying to address legitimate concerns about abuses -- for example, treating fraud and other abuses more harshly in ballot question campaigns than in candidate elections.

Unfortunately, some organizations that have profited financially or politically from recent abuses are painting the good and bad proposals with the same brush. They oppose attaching responsibilities to the people's exercise of their rights.

FOR A STRONGER DEMOCRACY

The fact is, Maine's Constitution gives the people the same kind of legislative power it gives to the Legislature, and we all understand the need for transparency and integrity in the legislating process, whether it is initiated by citizens or elected officials.

Opportunity Maine has demonstrated the power of the citizen initiative to transform grassroots action into effective policy change, and we remain jealous guardians of Maine citizens' right to direct democracy.

We therefore urge passage of LD 1690, as a means to strengthen this essential component of our system of government.

Cliff Ginn is a co-director of Opportunity maine, a non-profit, non-partisan organization working to expand educational opportunity and upgrade the skills of Maine's work force.