SP0384
LD 1020
First Regular Session - 124th Maine Legislature
C "B", Filing Number S-110
Text: MS-Word, RTF or PDF
LR 1069
Item 3
Bill Tracking Chamber Status

Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:

‘An Act To Ask Voters in a Referendum whether To Permit Marriage between Individuals of the Same Sex’

Amend the bill by inserting after section 6 the following:

Sec. 7. Statutory referendum procedure; submission at election; form of question; effective date. This Act must be submitted to the legal voters of the State at a statewide election held in the month of November following passage of this Act. The municipal officers of this State shall notify the inhabitants of their respective cities, towns and plantations to meet, in the manner prescribed by law for holding a statewide election, to vote on the acceptance or rejection of this Act by voting on the following question:

"Do you favor amending Maine law to permit marriage between individuals of the same sex?"

The legal voters of each city, town and plantation shall vote by ballot on this question and designate their choice by a cross or check mark placed within a corresponding square below the word "Yes" or "No." The ballots must be received, sorted, counted and declared in open ward, town and plantation meetings and returns made to the Secretary of State in the same manner as votes for members of the Legislature. The Governor shall review the returns. If a majority of the legal votes are cast in favor of this Act, the Governor shall proclaim the result without delay and this Act becomes effective 30 days after the date of the proclamation.

The Secretary of State shall prepare and furnish to each city, town and plantation all ballots, returns and copies of this Act necessary to carry out the purposes of this referendum.’

Summary

This is the minority report of the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary. This amendment makes the Act contingent on approval by the voters in a referendum at the general election in November. The title of the bill is changed to reflect the referendum addition.


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