League of Women Voters Calls for Full Funding of Clean Elections Initiative

Released Februry 23, 2016

AUGUSTA - The League of Women Voters of Maine is calling on the Controller to transfer $1 million to the Maine Clean Election Fund as required by law.

Maine's new Clean Elections law, which was approved by voters in November of 2015, called for a $3 million annual allotment to the Clean Election Fund. Only $2 million of that allotment has been transferred as of this writing. February 20, 2016 was the deadline for transferring the additional $1 million.

Despite being approved with a double-digit margin of victory, the LePage Administration is blocking the transfer of the additional $1 million that was a key part of the legislation.

"We call on the Governor and his administration to respect the rule of law, to follow the regular order, and to transfer the funds required by statute," said Jill Ward, President of the League of Women Voters of Maine. "Maine people want candidates to have a robust Clean Elections program, to be able to run competitive races without raising money from PACs, lobbyists, and vested interests. Maine voters went to the polls in November to refresh the mandate for Clean Elections. Now the governor and his administration should respect the voters and the law and transfer the funds."