Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §2531-A, sub-§11 is enacted to read:

11.__Resolution; disputed or challenged ballots.__A municipality may provide by ordinance, or order of the municipal officers, a method for resolving disputed or challenged ballots in an election in which there are enough challenged or disputed ballots to affect the result of the election.__The ordinance or order may delegate the municipal officers' responsibility to resolve disputed or challenged ballots to another entity, including, but not limited to, an independent panel or the Superior Court.__If the delegation is to the Superior Court, the municipal clerk shall forward the disputed or challenged ballots and related records to the clerk of the nearest Superior Court in the county in which the election was held.__The Superior Court shall determine the result of the election as soon as reasonably possible pursuant to procedures adopted by court rule.__The decision of the Superior Court is final and must be certified to the municipal clerk.

Sec. 2. 30-A MRSA §2553, first ¶, as amended by PL 1993, c. 608, §15, is further amended to read:

Within 30 days after election day, or at a later date agreed upon in writing by the candidates contesting an election result, a person who claims to have been elected to any municipal office may proceed against another who claims title to the office by the following procedure.

SUMMARY

In municipal elections, current law requires the municipal officers to decide what to do with disputed or challenged ballots. That requirement creates a conflict in cases where incumbents seek reelection because the incumbents have to decide whether to award disputed or challenged ballots to themselves or their opponents. It also creates conflicts where other incumbents who are not seeking reelection have endorsed or worked for different candidates. This bill allows municipalities to avoid these conflicts by passing an ordinance or an order of the municipal officers delegating the municipal officers' responsibility to another decision-making entity.

The bill also allows candidates who are contesting an election result to agree to extend the current 30-day period within which an appeal to court must be filed.