AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills vetoed a bill on Wednesday that seeks to ban foreign governments from spending money to influence Maine elections and referendums.
Lawmakers sent the measure to Mills earlier in July, the first time it had enacted a ballot initiative in 16 years. The proposal would have Maine join seven other states that prohibit electioneering by groups owned and controlled by foreign governments in some fashion.
The bill comes from a citizen-led effort to place a foreign electioneering ban on the November ballot. Mills’ move does not necessarily doom the measure because it will still go to the ballot if lawmakers fail to get the two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override the veto.
Mills vetoed a similar foreign electioneering ban the Legislature passed in 2021, with the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and Maine Forest Products Council among the opponents and the governor wrote Wednesday her concerns about the constitutionality of the ban remain.
Mills, a Democrat, said “while I strongly support and share the desire to find ways to prevent foreign influence in our elections, the language of this bill is too broad and would likely result in the unintended consequences of effectively silencing legitimate voices, including Maine-based businesses, in debates that would impact their interests.”
She said she shares the concerns of news industry groups including the Maine Press Association, which testified it could force outlets to “create an oppressive, time-consuming, and costly self-censorship regime.” The Bangor Daily News is a member of that group.
Lawmakers received the green light to move forward with passing the bill following a Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruling in June related to a budget maneuver by Democrats in March that led to questions over whether the Legislature could enact referendums.
This year’s bill came in response to a 2021 referendum that tried to halt Central Maine Power’s controversial transmission corridor through western Maine. Hydro-Quebec, the Quebec government-owned power supplier for the project, spent millions on the referendum.
That effort revealed a loophole in state law that prevents foreign nationals and companies from donating to candidate campaigns while saying nothing about referendums. Sen. Rick Bennett, R-Oxford, is chair of Protect Maine Elections, the group behind the referendum campaign.
Central Maine Power and Versant Power were among the groups lobbying against this year’s bill, with Hydro-Quebec also lobbying but not taking a formal position on it, according to Maine Public. Versant is owned by ENMAX, a corporation controlled by the Canadian city of Calgary, while CMP is part of Avangrid, a Spanish company partially owned by countries including Qatar.
Despite voters approving the 2021 referendum to halt the $1 billion Central Maine Power project, a jury in April found developers had a constitutional right to proceed because enough work had been completed in good faith before the vote. Numerous pending legal cases have kept the corridor development from advancing.
Other referendums currently slated for the November ballot relate to creating a new electric utility, requiring voter approval of state agencies and electric cooperatives borrowing more than $1 billion and forcing manufacturers in Maine to make information available to vehicle owners and independent repair shops under a “right to repair” law.
Next week, lawmakers will also consider giving final approval to bills proposing referendums on the state flag design and extending ranked-choice voting to gubernatorial and state legislative elections.
