Proposed bill would prevent election corruption
AUGUSTA — State Rep. Saucier, D-Presque Isle, has sponsored a bill that would prevent a sitting secretary of state from campaigning for elected office.
The secretary of state is the chief administrator of elections in Maine. The bill is intended to avoid conflicts of interest by ensuring that the secretary of state does not have a stake in the outcome of an election.
“Free and fair elections are the basis of our democracy,” said Saucier. “When the secretary of state campaigns for office while adjudicating the election process, this raises questions about conflicts of interest.”
Saucier was inspired to introduce the bill after former secretary of state, Charlie Summers, unsuccessfully ran for the United States Senate in 2012 and Bill Diamond ran for governor in 1986.
The Legislature’s Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs will schedule a public hearing for the bill in the coming weeks and will make a recommendation on the bill to the full Legislature later this session.
For more information about the bill go to: http://goo.gl/8Xubi.
