HP0204, LD 258, item 1, An Act Regarding Political Signs

An Act Regarding Political Signs

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §1014, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2007, c. 443, Pt. A, §9, is further amended to read:

1. Authorized by candidate. Whenever a person makes an expenditure to finance a communication expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate through broadcasting stations, newspapers, magazines, campaign signs or other outdoor advertising facilities, publicly accessible sites on the Internet, direct mails or other similar types of general public political advertising or through flyers, handbills, bumper stickers and other nonperiodical publications, the communication, if authorized by a candidate, a candidate's authorized political committee or their agents, must clearly and conspicuously state that the communication has been so authorized and must clearly state the name and address of the person who made or financed the expenditure for the communication. The following forms of political communication do not require the name and address of the person who made or authorized the expenditure for the communication because the name or address would be so small as to be illegible or infeasible: ashtrays, badges and badge holders, balloons, campaign buttons, clothing, coasters, combs, emery boards, envelopes, erasers, glasses, key rings, letter openers, matchbooks, nail files, noisemakers, paper and plastic cups, pencils, pens, plastic tableware, 12-inch or shorter rulers, swizzle sticks, tickets to fund-raisers and similar items determined by the commission to be too small and unnecessary for the disclosures required by this section. A communication sign that is at least 2 square feet in size or larger that includes a candidate's name and that is financed by a the candidate or the candidate's committee that is made through a broadcasting station is not required to state the address of the candidate or committee that who financed the communication sign.

Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §1014, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2003, c. 510, Pt. F, §1 and affected by c. 599, §15, is further amended to read:

2. Not authorized by candidate. If the communication described in subsection 1 is not authorized by a candidate, a candidate's authorized political committee or their agents, the communication must clearly and conspicuously state that the communication is not authorized by any candidate and state the name and address of the person who made or financed the expenditure for the communication. If the communication is in written form, the communication must contain at the bottom of the communication in print that is no smaller in size than 10-point bold print, Times New Roman font, the words "NOT PAID FOR OR AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE."

Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §1014, sub-§2-A, as amended by PL 2007, c. 443, Pt. A, §9, is further amended to read:

2-A. Other communications. Whenever a person makes an expenditure to finance a communication that names or depicts a clearly identified candidate and that is disseminated during the 21 days before a primary election or 35 days before a general election through the media described in subsection 1, the communication must state the name and address of the person who made or financed the communication and a statement that the communication was or was not authorized by the candidate. The disclosure is not required if the communication was not made for the purpose of influencing the candidate's nomination for election or election.

summary

This bill removes the requirement in the election laws that the address of a person who pays for a communication made for or against a candidate be on the communication. The bill also provides that the name of a candidate or candidate's committee does not have to be on a sign as having financed the sign if the candidate's name is prominently displayed on the sign and the sign is at least 2 square feet or larger in size.

HP0204 LD 258	First Regular Session - 124th Maine Legislature Text: MS-Word, RTF or PDF		LR 933 Item 1
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