Tag: Maine Constitution

Democracy Forum 2/17/17

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine    
Engineer: John Greenman

Program Topic: Ballot Questions in Maine: Whose Initiatives Are They?

Key Discussion Points:
We’ll discuss what happened in the recent election
What our constitution provides
What role the legislature and the governor are playing now.

Guests:
a) John Brautigam, Attorney and election law expert
b) Ron Schmidt, Associate Professor of Political Science at USM. https://usm.maine.edu/pos/ronald-schmidt

To learn more about this topic:
Laws Governing the Initiative Process in Maine
Initiated Bills in Maine 1911 –
Peoples Vetoes in Maine 1909 –
Referenda in Maine 1910 –
As Progressives Turn to Ballot Initiatives, GOP Eyes Restrictions Steve Mistler story for Maine Public, February 2, 2017.

The all-volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes:
Don Carmichael
Suzanne Carmichael
Starr Gilmartin
Maggie Harling
Linda Hoskins
Ann Luther
Maryann Ogonowski
Pam Person
Leah Taylor
Linda Washburn

FMI re League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org

WERU News Report 6/11/13

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Segment 1: The citizen initiated referendum process in Maine is often touted as a true example of grassroots democracy – and it has come under threat in the past from those who would rather not see the public have that power. A bill currently before the legislature seeks to amend the state constitution to limit citizen based referendums on hunting and fishing issues. A coalition of groups is working to fight that, and we spoke with one of the members earlier today, Katie Hansberry, Maine state director for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)

Segment 2: On our Peacetime segment this week we conclude our series of speakers from this year’s HOPE festival, who spoke on the topic of “Do One Thing” – each of them speaking for a few minutes about a specific action that they would like to encourage the listeners to consider