An effort is underway to give Maine citizens the right to elect their constitutional officers, including the Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Treasurer.

Currently, lawmakers in the House and Senate are responsible for selecting individuals to fill these critical roles, with votes held every two years during the Legislature’s First Regular Session.

Nationwide, Maine is one of only a handful of states to this, making it the exception rather than the rule.

A group of Republican lawmakers, however, have now proposed a series of amendments to the state constitution that would allow Mainers to popularly elect who serves in these positions.

These amendments — LDs 147, 149, and 150 — were all sponsored by House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor).

Cosponsoring the proposed amendments were Rep. Donald J. Ardell (R-Monticello), Rep. Richard H. Campbell (R-Orrington), Rep. Laurel D. Libby (R-Auburn), Rep. Mathew David McIntyre (R-Lowell), Rep. Joshua Morris (R-Turner), Rep. Katrina J. Smith (R-Palermo), Rep. James E. Thorne (R-Carmel), and Rep. William R. Tuell (R-East Machias).

In December of last year, both Shenna Bellows and Aaron Frey were reelected to their respective positions as Secretary of State and Attorney General.

State Rep. Joe Perry (D-Bangor) was chosen to serve as State Treasurer after beating out former Gorham representative Maureen Terry (D).

Although Republican lawmakers put forward alternative candidates for Attorney General and Secretary of State, they did not offer a challenger for State Treasurer.

According to Ballotpedia — known as the “encyclopedia of American politics” — Maine is one of only seven states where the Attorney General is not popularly elected and one of only twelve states where the Secretary of State and State Treasurer are not popularly elected.

States throughout the rest of the country allow their citizens to directly elect the people who serve in these important roles, making Maine’s policy a national outlier.

Maine Republicans have been advocating to give citizens the right to popularly elect their constitutional officers for some time now.

In 2022, House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) issued a statement speaking out against the state’s practice of having lawmakers select the people who serve in these roles.

“Maine should do what most of the rest of the country does – have our Constitutional Officers directly elected by the people, not party insiders,” said Rep. Faulkingham.

“Maine has a long tradition of electing independent leaders that are beholden to Maine voters,” he said. “House Republicans will propose making this important change to our laws to take power away from politicians and give it to Maine citizens.”

That said, amending Maine’s Constitution is not an easy task. In order to advance an amendment, at least two-thirds of the members in both the House and Senate must vote in support of the proposal.

Most kinds of legislation can be passed with just a simple majority, and today, proposals are often advanced with only partisan, or nearly partisan, support.

Given this, the bar for constitutional amendments is set exceptionally high, especially in today’s political climate.

Should an amendment ultimately gain enough support in the Legislature, it is then sent to voters for final ratification.

Despite the tough standards for amending Maine’s Constitution, there are numerous precedents of such changes.

As of November 2023, 117 amendments to Maine’s Constitution had been approved, with the first being ratified in 1834.

Most recently, voters ratified two amendments in the November 2023 election. Both amendments, however, were largely administrative in nature, making them substantially less divisive than many policy-heavy proposals.

For example, during the previous legislative session, Democratic lawmakers unsuccessfully attempted to advance an amendment that would have enshrined a right to abortion in the state’s constitution.

Despite being supported by all Democratic members of the House and Senate, Republicans’ united opposition to the proposal prevented it from surpassing the high bar set by the two-thirds threshold.

All three of the recently proposed amendments that seek to give Mainers the right to popularly elect their constitutional officers have been referred to the Legislature’s Committee on State and Local Government.

In the coming weeks and months, these proposals will receive public hearings where Mainers will have a chance to make their voices heard.