The City of South Portland proposed a bill submitted to the Maine Legislature this week, which will correct technicalities with South Portland’s November 2024 referendum. The legislation is a means of addressing minor clerical oversights. There is no financial issue or error, nor any election problem, and the City fully expects the validation legislation to pass without incident.
Approximately 70% of South Portland voters approved two school bond referendum questions on November 5, 2024. As part of the borrowing process, the City’s Bond Counsel reviewed documentation related to the referendum and identified areas where the City did not fully meet state statute requirements. While all of the financial information provided to voters about the proposed bonds was accurate, it mistakenly left out certain state-required information. The City Bond Counsel recommended that the City pursue validation legislation to remedy the issue.
“The laws relating to referendum elections are complicated and these technical election issues do come up from time to time,” said the City’s Bond Counsel James M. Saffian, Esq., of Pierce Atwood, LLP. “When, such as here, the referendum questions are approved by such a wide margin, the most efficient way to move forward is to pursue the validation legislation that the City has proposed.”
The first error relates to the Notice of Election form. The Secretary of State provides this form to municipal clerks ahead of each election. Each clerk then completes the form and posts it to give notice of the election. Unfortunately, the Secretary of State’s office initially circulated an incorrect form for the November 2024 election. While a correct form was later circulated, South Portland’s City Clerk inadvertently used the initial form, which did not ask for ballot questions. Because the Clerk’s office was not aware it had used the initial incorrect form, the notice posted at the polling locations did not include the list of ballot questions for the municipal general election or referendum election. The City did post the specimen ballot itself, including the questions, in the newspaper and on the election page of the City website well ahead of the election (and promoted this resource widely). However, because including the questions on the notice is a specific state requirement, Bond Counsel identified this oversight. (Note: The City has reached out to Senator Carney’s office requesting an amendment to the legislation which would address the general election noticing deficiencies, as LD 1483 currently addresses only the bond referendum.)
The second error relates to the financial statement accompanying the Notice of Election and specimen ballots. There are several ways to meet this requirement, and the City has done it in different ways for previous referendums. For the November 2024 referendum, the City provided the accurate financial information with the debt breakdown. However, because the Bond Ordinance was posted as opposed to a financial statement that included the Treasurer’s signature, this did not fully meet the statutory requirements.
Since learning of these issues, the City Clerk and Finance Director have put processes in place to standardize procedures and ensure that state statutes are met. The City of South Portland maintains one of the highest market credit ratings in Maine. The City will continue to engage Bond Counsel to ensure that it has met every bond requirement, and appreciates Counsel’s diligence in spotting and rectifying these oversights.