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Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows last month wrote a thoughtful and detailed decision to remove former President Donald Trump from the Maine primary ballot, pending court action. As we said last week, it is possible to disagree with the decision without maligning Bellows. For example, we have reached a slightly different conclusion than hers, but still respect the process that went into it.
Some critics of her decisions called it partisan and undemocratic. Legislative Republicans have moved forward with an attempt to impeach Bellows.
Her decision also reignited debate over how the state’s secretary of state is chosen. Although we strongly condemn the vitriol and threats directed at Bellows, we have long believed that Maine should change the way its constitutional officers are chosen.
Under the state Constitution, Maine’s attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer are elected by the Legislature. So is the state auditor, but the process for filling that office is written into state statute, not the Constitution.
Maine is the only state that has its Legislature elect the attorney general, and only one of a handful to do so with secretary of state and treasurer.
Our longstanding critique of this system is not about the people serving in these offices now, including Bellows, but about the process that put them there. Most often, these officials are chosen from the party with the most seats in the Legislature. They frequently are former lawmakers from that party. All four of the current officeholders have previously served as Democratic legislators.
As we’ve stressed repeatedly, this process often looks more like political patronage rather than good governance. Turning these decisions over to Mainers could remove that appearance, and increase the visibility and accountability of these roles. It could also open up these jobs to a wider pool of candidates, with different qualifications.
Popular elections would also raise the visibility, and public scrutiny, of the constitutional officeholders. Currently, there are only three statewide races — for governor and Maine’s two U.S. Senate seats — a reality that frequently draws lamentations that there are too few good candidates to choose from for the state’s top offices. With more high-profile campaigns, Maine voters would get a chance to see and hear from more people who could make good future governors and senators.
There have been more than 100 failed attempts to change how the state’s constitutional officers and auditor are selected. Two bills introduced by Republicans last year were rejected by lawmakers.
It is past time to change this insular process, not because of Bellows’ recent decision on Trump, which his team has appealed to a state court as part of the same deliberative process as her Dec. 28 decision. Instead, we believe giving these decisions to Mainers would help widen the pool of candidates, while increasing the visibility and public scrutiny of these important positions. Such a move would make them more directly accountable to Mainers, rather than politicians in Augusta.
Whether people agree or disagree with Bellows’ recent decision, we think this more direct accountability for the secretary of state and all constitutional officers would be better for voters across Maine.
