David A. Jones et al. v. Secretary of State et al.

Summary

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court vacated a Superior Court judgment that had invalidated Maine's requirement that petition circulators be registered voters in their municipality of residence when collecting signatures. The court held that the Maine Constitution and statutes unambiguously impose that requirement and concluded, on the limited record presented, that the challengers had not shown a violation of the First Amendment. The court therefore reinstated the Secretary of State's determination that the people's veto petition lacked sufficient valid signatures.

Holdings

1. Maine's Constitution and statutes require a people's-veto petition circulator to be a registered voter in the municipality of residence when collecting signatures.
2. On the limited record presented, the requirement that a petition circulator be registered in the municipality of residence while circulating a people's-veto petition imposes only reasonable, nondiscriminatory restrictions and does not violate the First Amendment.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Maine's Constitution and statutes require a petition circulator to be registered to vote in the municipality of the circulator's residence at the time the signatures are collected.
2. Whether the requirement that a people's-veto petition circulator be registered to vote in the municipality of residence when collecting signatures violates the First Amendment.

Disposition

vacated