Sen. Heather Sanborn bill provides easy solution to ballot confusion

Posted: February 10, 2019 | Senator Heather Sanborn, State and Local Government

AUGUSTA — Sen. Heather Sanborn, D-Portland, has submitted a bill that would make ballots of local referendum questions more easy for voters to understand. LD 53, “An Act To Clarify Local Referendum Ballots” received a public hearing before the Committee on State and Local Government on Monday, Feb. 4.

“This bill is a simple, common sense solution to a problem with our voting system that causes undue confusion for voters,” said Sen. Sanborn.

The bill would require municipal initiative and referendum questions to be listed on ballots using letters rather than numbers. This would eliminate confusion in messaging from campaigns and advocates regarding state ballot questions and local ballot questions, both of which are currently listed using numbers.

The bill faces a vote in the committee and further action before the full Senate and House.