BANGOR, Maine (Legal Newsline) – A political action committee and a Republican Maine lawmaker want a federal court to strike down a part of state law that requires a direct initiative or people’s veto to be instigated by a registered voter of that state.
We The People PAC, Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, Liberty Initiative Fund and Nicholas Kowalski filed their lawsuit Dec. 31 in Maine federal court against Maine officials.
“The voter registration and residency requirement imposed on circulators of petitions for a direct initiative and people’s veto impair clearly established rights afforded to Plaintiffs under the First and Fourteenth amendments,” the lawsuit says.
U.S. Supreme Court precedent is on their side, the plaintiffs claim as they fight a requirement that sponsors of those measures to publicly disclose the names of paid circulators.
We The People and Faulkingham are circulating a petition to force the legislature to adopt a proposed ban on all non-citizen voting in the state or to place the issue on the next general election ballot as a direct initiative.
Kowalski, a Michigan professional petition circulator, wants to help but is forbidden by state law because he is not registered to vote in Maine.