2020 U.S. state ballot measures
2021» «2019
Overview
Scorecard
Tuesday Count
Deadlines
Requirements
Lawsuits
Readability
Voter guides
Election results
Year-end analysis
Campaigns
Polls
Media editorials
Filed initiatives
Finances
Contributions
Signature costs
Ballot Measure Monthly
Signature requirements
Have you subscribed yet? Join the hundreds of thousands of readers trusting Ballotpedia to keep them up to date with the latest political news. Sign up for the Daily Brew. Click here to learn more.

Three statewide ballot measures were certified for the ballot inMaine in2020.

• Question 1 was defeated onMarch 3, 2020.
• The second election was onJuly 14, 2020, and featured two bond issues. Both of the bond issues were approved.
• The general election onNovember 3, 2020, featured zero statewide ballot measures.

On the ballot

See also:2020 ballot measures

March 3, 2020:

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
VR	Question 1	Healthcare	Repeals the law eliminating religious and philosophical exemptions from vaccination requirements for students and healthcare employees	d

July 14, 2020:

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
BI	Question 1	Bonds	Authorizes $15 million in bonds for high-speed internet infrastructure	a
BI	Question 2	Bonds	Authorizes $105 million in bonds for transportation infrastructure projects	a

Signatures submitted but failed to make ballot

Campaigns for the following ballot measures filed signatures to appear on the ballot for November 3, 2020, but the measures were not added to the ballot due to insufficient signatures or court order.

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
IndISS	NECEC Transmission Project Certificate Initiative	Energy	Require thePublic Utilities Commission to revoke certification of the NECEC transmission project
VR	Ranked-Choice Voting for Presidential Elections Referendum	Elections	Repeals a bill that adopted ranked-choice voting for presidential elections

Summary of campaign contributions

See also:Ballot measure campaign finance, 2020

The following chart illustrates how much support and opposition committees received in campaign contributions for each measure on the ballot:

Ballot Measure	Support Contributions	Oppose Contributions	Outcome
Maine Question 1, High-Speed Internet Infrastructure Bond Issue (July 2020)	$112,226.62	$0.00
Maine Question 1, Religious and Philosophical Vaccination Exemptions Referendum (March 2020)	$671,085.04	$872,619.14
Maine Question 2, Transportation Infrastructure Bond Issue (July 2020)	$0.00	$0.00

Getting measures on the ballot

Citizens

In Maine, citizens have the power to initiatestate statutes andveto referendums, but notconstitutional amendments. Initiatives areindirect in Maine, meaning that thestate legislature has the option to approve an initiative without a vote of electors. Voters approved aconstitutional amendment for initiative and referendum powers in 1908.

In 2020, 63,067 signatures were required for initiatives and veto referendums in Maine. The signature requirement was based on 10 percent of the votes cast forgovernor in2018.

Signatures for initiatives that proponents intended to appear on the November 2020 general election ballot needed to be filed on or before February 3, 2020. The deadline for veto referendums was 90 days following the final adjournment of the legislative session at which the targeted bill was passed.

Legislature

TheMaine State Legislature can refer statewide ballot measures, in the form ofconstitutional amendments andstate statutes, to the ballot. In Maine, the most common type of referred statute is thebond issue.

Maine is one of 16 states that requires a two-thirds vote in each legislative chamber during one legislative session to refer a constitutional amendment to the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 101 votes in theMaine House of Representatives and 24 votes in theMaine Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

Statutes, including bond issues, require a simple majority vote in each legislative chamber during one legislative session and the governor's signature to appear on the ballot.Section 14 of Article IX of theMaine Constitution requires that state bonds exceeding $2 million be referred to the ballot for voter approval.

Historical facts

See also:List of Maine ballot measures

Between 1995 and 2018, the following occurred:

• Ballots featured 141 ballot measures.
• An average of five or six measures appeared on even-year statewide ballots in Maine.
• An average of one or two citizen-initiated statutes appeared on even-year statewide ballots in Maine.
• Voters approved 91 percent (145 of 159) and rejected 9 percent (14 of 159) of the ballot measures.
• Voters approved 40 percent (14 of 35) and rejected 60 percent (21 of 35) of the citizen-initiated statutes.

Not on the ballot

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
IndISS	Citizen Requirement for Voting Initiative	Suffrage	Provides thatonly a person, rather thana person, who meets requirements, including citizenship, can vote
IndISS	Medical Aid-in-Dying Initiative	Assisted Death	Legalizes assisted death for adult patients with terminal illnesses
IndISS	Paid Sick Leave Initiative	Labor	Requires employers to provide employees with paid sick leave
IndISS	Crime of Female Genital Mutilation Initiative	Law	Classifies female genital mutiliation as a crime in state code
IndISS	$200 Excise Tax on Motor Vehicles Initiative	Taxes	Replaces excise tax formula for motor vehicles with $200 tax
IndISS	Minimum Sentences for Sexual Assault Against Children Under Age 12 Initiative	Law	Establishes minimum sentences for persons convicted of sexual assault against a child under age 12
LRCA	Equal Rights Regardless of Sex Amendment	Constitutional rights	Prohibits denial of rights on account of an individual's sex
LRCA	Constitutional Right to Food Amendment	Food	Provides that there is an "inherent and unalienable right to food"

See also

External links

• Maine Secretary of State

Footnotes

	v • e State ofMaine Augusta (capital)
Elections	What's on my ballot? |Elections in 2025 |How to vote |How to run for office |Ballot measures
Government	Who represents me? |U.S. President |U.S. Congress |Federal courts |State executives |State legislature |State and local courts |Counties |Cities |School districts |Public policy