Reed v. Secretary of State
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The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision of the Business and Consumer Docket affirming a decision of the Secretary of State that validated a direct initiative petition regarding the New England Clean Energy Connect Transmission Project (NECEC), holding that the Secretary of State properly validated the petition.
On appeal, Delbert Reed claimed that the Secretary of State erred by (1) validating the petitions notarized by three notaries based on the Secretary of State's misinterpretation and misapplication of Me. Rev. Stat. 21-A, 9030E and Me. Rev. Stat. 954-A, and (2) failing to conduct a more thorough fraud investigation of the initiative campaign's signature-gathering process. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the Secretary of State did not err by declining, pursuant to sections 903-E and 954-A, to invalidate the petitions that were notarized by the notaries at issue; and (2) the Secretary of State reasonably determined that the broad assertions of fraud were insufficient grounds to launch an additional investigation of the entire campaign.
Court Description: Corrected June 23, 2020 (Errata sheet)
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