Maine Question 1, Transportation Infrastructure Bond Issue (2019)

Maine Question 1
Election date November 5, 2019
Topic Bond issues and Transportation
Status a Approved
Type Bond issue	Origin State Legislature
List of Maine measuresMaine Question 1Maine Question 2Submit

Maine Question 1, the Transportation Infrastructure Bond Issue, was on the ballot in Maine as a legislatively referred bond question on November 5, 2019. The measure was approved.

A "yes" vote supported this measure to authorize $105 million in general obligation bonds for transportation infrastructure projects.

A "no" vote opposed this measure to authorize $105 million in general obligation bonds for transportation infrastructure projects.

Election results

Maine Question 1
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		143,315	76.27%
No		44,589	23.73%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What was the bond revenue intended for?

Question 1 authorized $105 million in general obligation bonds for transportation infrastructure projects, including:

• $85 million to construct and rehabilitate state highways classified as Priority 1, Priority 2, and Priority 3, replace and rehabilitate bridges, and to fund the municipal partnership initiative;

• $15 million for facilities and equipment related to freight and passenger railroads, transit, ports, marine transportation, aviation, and bicycle and pedestrian improvements;

• $4 million for a competitive grant program that matches funds from local governments, municipal conservation commissions, soil and water conservation districts, and nonprofit organizations to make upgrades to municipal culverts at stream crossings that improve storm and flood control and improve fish and wildlife habitats; and

• $1 million for the renovation of a wharf and bulkhead at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland, Maine, for the purpose of bringing the wharf back into operation for commercial fishing vessels and marine research vessels.

What were recent bond measures on the ballot in Maine?

Voters of Maine cast ballots on 38 bond issues, totaling $1.32 billion in value, between January 1, 2007, and January 1, 2019. All but one bond issue question was approved. This 2019 bond measure was designed to issue bonds related to transportation projects. There were nine other bond issues addressing transportation on the ballot during the 12 previous years. All nine of them were approved, issuing a combined total of $779.53 million in bonds.

How much debt did Maine have from voter-approved bonds?

As of June 30, 2019, Maine had $543.40 million in debt from voter-approved general obligation bonds. The June 2019 debt from general obligation bonds was higher than the June 2018 debt, which was $376.12 million. During the period between January 1, 2007, and January 1, 2019, debt from general obligation bonds peaked at $529.99 million in 2009 and was as low as $369.73 million in 2013.

Text of measure

Ballot question

The ballot question was as follows:

“

Do you favor a $105,000,000 bond issue to build or improve roads, bridges, railroads, airports, transit and ports and make other transportation investments, to be used to match an estimated $137,000,000 in federal and other funds?

”

Full text

The full text of the bond measure was as follows:

Sec. 1. Authorization of bonds. The Treasurer of State is authorized, under the direction of the Governor, to issue bonds in the name and on behalf of the State in an amount not exceeding $105,000,000 for the purposes described in section 5 of this Act. The bonds are a pledge of the full faith and credit of the State. The bonds may not run for a period longer than 10 years from the date of the original issue of the bonds. Sec. 2. Records of bonds issued; Treasurer of State. The Treasurer of State shall ensure that an account of each bond is kept showing the number of the bond, the name of the successful bidder to whom sold, the amount received for the bond, the date of sale and the date when payable. Sec. 3. Sale; how negotiated; proceeds appropriated. The Treasurer of State may negotiate the sale of the bonds by direction of the Governor, but no bond may be loaned, pledged or hypothecated on behalf of the State. The proceeds of the sale of the bonds, which must be held by the Treasurer of State and paid by the Treasurer of State upon warrants drawn by the State Controller, are appropriated solely for the purposes set forth in this Act. Any unencumbered balances remaining at the completion of the project in this Act lapse to the Office of the Treasurer of State to be used for the retirement of general obligation bonds. Sec. 4. Interest and debt retirement. The Treasurer of State shall pay interest due or accruing on any bonds issued under this Act and all sums coming due for payment of bonds at maturity. Sec. 5. Disbursement of bond proceeds from General Fund bond issue. The proceeds of the sale of the bonds authorized under this Act must be expended as designated in the following schedule under the direction and supervision of the agencies and entities set forth in this section. TRANSPORTATION, DEPARTMENT OF Provides funds to construct, reconstruct, rehabilitate and preserve Priority 1, Priority 2 and Priority 3 state highways under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 23, section 73, subsection 7 and associated improvements, to replace and rehabilitate bridges and to fund the municipal partnership initiative. Total: $85,000,000 Provides funds for facilities or equipment related to freight and passenger railroads, transit, ports, marine transportation, aviation and bicycle and pedestrian improvements that preserve public safety or otherwise have demonstrated high transportation value including property acquisition. Total: $15,000,000 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF Provides funds for a competitive grant program that matches local funding for the upgrade of municipal culverts at stream crossings in order to improve fish and wildlife habitats and increase community safety. Eligible project sponsors include local governments, municipal conservation commissions, soil and water conservation districts and private nonprofit organizations. A proposal for funding from an eligible project sponsor must include a map and summary of the proposed project, describing how it meets the following criteria: 1. Contribution to competitive grant program goals. The extent to which the proposed project allows communities to more effectively prepare for storm and flood events and advances the goals of restoring habitat for fish, including sea-run fish and native brook trout; and 2. Cost-effectiveness. The extent to which the proposed project represents an efficient and cost-effective investment, including the proportion of total project funding that will be provided from other sources and the potential avoided costs associated with the proposed project. Funds may not be used to cover all of the costs associated with a proposed project. Total: $4,000,000 ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, DEPARTMENT OF Provides funds for the renovation of a wharf and bulkhead at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland to bring the wharf back into operation as secured access and berthing for commercial fishing vessels and to support vessels for marine research at sea that supports continued long-term marine job development. Total: $1,000,000 Sec. 6. Contingent upon ratification of bond issue. Sections 1 to 5 do not become effective unless the people of the State ratify the issuance of the bonds as set forth in this Act. Sec. 7. Appropriation balances at year-end. At the end of each fiscal year, all unencumbered appropriation balances representing state money carry forward. Bond proceeds that have not been expended within 10 years after the date of the sale of the bonds lapse to the Office of the Treasurer of State to be used for the retirement of general obligation bonds. Sec. 8. Bonds authorized but not issued. Any bonds authorized but not issued within 5 years of ratification of this Act are deauthorized and may not be issued, except that the Legislature may, within 2 years after the expiration of that 5-year period, extend the period for issuing any remaining unissued bonds for an additional amount of time not to exceed 5 years. Sec. 9. Referendum for ratification; submission at election; form of question; effective date. This Act must be submitted to the legal voters of the State at a statewide election held in the month of November following passage of this Act. The municipal officers of this State shall notify the inhabitants of their respective cities, towns and plantations to meet, in the manner prescribed by law for holding a statewide election, to vote on the acceptance or rejection of this Act by voting on the following question: "Do you favor a $105,000,000 bond issue to build or improve roads, bridges, railroads, airports, transit and ports and make other transportation investments, to be used to match an estimated $137,000,000 in federal and other funds?" The legal voters of each city, town and plantation shall vote by ballot on this question and designate their choice by a cross or check mark placed within a corresponding square below the word "Yes" or "No." The ballots must be received, sorted, counted and declared in open ward, town and plantation meetings and returns made to the Secretary of State in the same manner as votes for members of the Legislature. The Governor shall review the returns. If a majority of the legal votes are cast in favor of this Act, the Governor shall proclaim the result without delay and this Act becomes effective 30 days after the date of the proclamation. The Secretary of State shall prepare and furnish to each city, town and plantation all ballots, returns and copies of this Act necessary to carry out the purposes of this referendum.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2019

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure. The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 16, and the FRE is 40. The word count for the ballot title is 34, and the estimated reading time is 9 seconds.

Sponsors

Gov. Janet Mills (D) proposed the bond measure, which Sen. Bill Diamond (D-26) and Rep. Andrew McLean (D-27) sponsored in the Maine State Legislature.

Campaign finance

Total campaign contributions:
Support:	$0.00
Opposition:	$0.00

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Maine ballot measures

Ballotpedia did not identify ballot question committees registered to support or oppose the ballot measure.

Background

Bond issues on the ballot in Maine

See also: Bond issues on the ballot

Voters of Maine cast ballots on 38 bond issues, totaling $1.32 billion ($1,322,925,000) in value, from January 1, 2007, through January 1, 2019. Voters approved 37 of 38 bond issues. Question 2 (2012), which would have authorized $11 million in bonds to expand the state's community college system, was defeated. This means that Mainers approved 97.4 percent of bond issues on the ballot between 2007 and 2018.

In 2018, voters approved four bond issues, totaling $200 million, including a $106-million bond issue for transportation infrastructure.

The following table contains information on the 38 bond issues that appeared on the ballot in Maine between 2007 and 2018:

Year	Measure	Amount	Primary purpose	Outcome
2007 (June)	Question 1	$112,975,000	Transportation projects	a
2007 (June)	Question 2	$18,300,000	Water facilities	a
2007	Question 2	$55,000,000	Economic development	a
2007	Question 3	$43,500,000	Higher education	a
2007	Question 4	$35,500,000	Environmental conservation and recreation	a
2008 (June)	Question 1	$29,725,000	Water facilities and transportation projects	a
2008	Question 3	$3,400,000	Water facilities	a
2009	Question 6	$71,250,000	Transportation projects	a
2010 (June)	Question 2	$26,500,000	Energy projects and higher education	a
2010 (June)	Question 3	$47,800,000	Transportation projects	a
2010 (June)	Question 4	$23,750,000	Economic development	a
2010 (June)	Question 5	$10,250,000	Water facilities	a
2010	Question 2	$5,000,000	Healthcare services	a
2010	Question 3	$9,750,000	Environmental conservation and recreation	a
2012	Question 2	$11,300,000	Higher education	d
2012	Question 3	$5,000,000	Environmental conservation and recreation	a
2012	Question 4	$51,500,000	Transportation projects	a
2012	Question 5	$7,925,000	Water facilities	a
2013	Question 1	$14,000,000	Military facilities	a
2013	Question 2	$15,500,000	Higher education	a
2013	Question 3	$100,000,000	Transportation projects	a
2013	Question 4	$4,500,000	Higher education	a
2013	Question 5	$15,500,000	Higher education	a
2014	Question 2	$8,000,000	Agricultural research	a
2014	Question 3	$12,000,000	Economic development	a
2014	Question 4	$10,000,000	Healthcare research	a
2014	Question 5	$3,000,000	Healthcare research	a
2014	Question 6	$10,000,000	Water facilities and environmental conservation	a
2014	Question 7	$7,000,000	Economic development	a
2015	Question 2	$15,000,000	Housing projects	a
2015	Question 3	$85,000,000	Transportation projects	a
2016	Question 6	$100,000,000	Transportation projects	a
2017	Question 1	$50,000,000	Economic development	a
2017	Question 3	$105,000,000	Transportation projects	a
2018	Question 2	$30,000,000	Water facilities	a
2018	Question 3	$106,000,000	Transportation projects	a
2018	Question 4	$49,000,000	Higher education	a
2018	Question 5	$15,000,000	Higher education	a

Debt from voter-approved bonds

The Maine state treasurer provides an overview of the state’s debt resulting from general obligation bonds, which include all voter-approved bonds. A general obligation bond constitutes a public debt and is paid for through state funds. Section 14 of Article IX of the Maine Constitution requires that general obligation bonds exceeding $2 million be referred to the ballot for voter approval.

Maine had $543.40 million in debt from general obligation bonds on June 30, 2019. About $103.64 million of voter-approved bonds from prior elections had not yet been issued for projects as of June 30, 2019. The debt from general obligation bonds was the highest since at least 2005 (not accounting for inflation). In 2018, the general obligation bond debt was $376.12 million. The graph below provides an illustration of state debt from general obligation bonds and the annual amount of unissued bonds in millions of dollars between June 30, 2005, and June 30, 2019:

State highways classification

In 2011, legislation was enacted to require the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) to categorize the state's highways as Priority 1 to Priority 6 using factors such as the federal functional classification system, heavy haul truck use, regional economic significance, and regional traffic volumes.

The following table is based on MaineDOT's highways management definitions and data and provides information on the different categories:

Classification	Miles (2017)	Percent of total miles (2017)	Percent of state traffic (2017)	Description
Priority 1 Roads	1,760	8%	42%	"These roads include the Maine Turnpike, the interstate system and key principal arterials like Route 1 in Aroostook County, the Airline (Route 9, Bangor to Calais), Route 2 west of Newport, and Route 302. The 1,760 miles of Priority 1 roads represent only 8 percent of the miles, but carry fully 42 percent of all vehicle miles traveled in Maine. The Maine Turnpike accounts for 249 miles and 9.2 percent of the traffic in the above totals."
Priority 2 Roads	1,335	6%	17%	"These roads include high-value arterials like Route 201 from Fairfield to Canada, Route 1 Downeast (Ellsworth to Calais), Route 11 Sherman to Fort Kent and Route 25 from Gorham to NH. All National Highway System (NHS) must be HCP 2 or better. The HCP 2 roads total about 1,355 miles. They represent about 6 percent of the total miles of road but carry 17 percent of overall traffic."
Priority 3 Roads	2,211	9%	16%	"These roads generally are the remaining arterials and significant major collector highways. They include Route 1A from Mars Hill to Van Buren, Route 27 north of Eustis, and Route 114 from Gorham around Sebago Lake to Naples. These 2,211 miles represent 9 percent of miles, and carry 16 percent of the traffic."
Priority 4 Roads	3,731	16%	12%	"These roads generally are the remainder of the major collector highways, minor collector highways, and often also part of Maine's unique state aid system, in which road responsibilities are shared between the state and municipalities. These 3,731 miles represent about 16 percent of total miles, and carry 12 percent of the traffic."
Priority 6 Roads	14,362	61%	13%	"These roads are local roads and streets, and are the year-round responsibility of our municipal partners. Though they carry just 13 percent of the statewide traffic, these 14,362 miles make up 61 percent of the total miles."

Path to the ballot

See also: Legislatively-referred state statute

Section 14 of Article IX of the Maine Constitution requires that state general obligation bonds exceeding $2 million be referred to the ballot for voter approval. A two-thirds vote in both chambers of the Maine State Legislature is required to put bond issues before voters.

Sen. Bill Diamond (D-26) introduced the bond issue into the Maine State Legislature as Legislative Document 1850 (LD 1850) at the request of Gov. Janet Mills (D). Both chambers of the state legislature passed LD 1850 on August 26, 2019. In the state House, the vote was 127-8. In the state Senate, the vote was 32-0.

Gov. Mills signed LD 1850 on August 30, 2019, allowing the bond issue to appear on the ballot at the election on November 5, 2019.

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Maine

Poll times

In Maine, municipalities with a population of 500 or more open their polls between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., while municipalities with a population of less than 500 open their polls between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. All polls close at 8:00 p.m. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.

Registration

Check your voter registration status here.

To register to vote in Maine, one must be "a United States citizen, at least 16 years of age to pre-register to vote, and have established a fixed principal home in Maine. To vote in a Referendum or General Election, you must be registered in the community where you reside, and be at least 18 years of age. A 17 year old may vote in a Primary Election, if that person will be 18 by the General Election."

Voters can return completed registration cards in person or by mail to their town office or city hall, any Motor Vehicle branch office, most state & federal social service agencies, or a voter registration drive. There is no deadline for voter registration if completed in person. If registering by mail, the deadline is 21 days prior to the election.

When registering for the first time in Maine, voters must provide documents verifying their identity and residence. The following documents are acceptable identification for the purpose of registering to vote:

• Government ID with a photo (i.e. driver’s license, State ID, valid U.S. Passport, military ID, ID card issued by a federally recognized Indian tribe)
• Government ID without photo (i.e. certified birth certificate or signed Social Security card)
• Other official document showing the name and address of voter (i.e. eligibility for public benefits, utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck)
• Student photo ID from a state-approved public or private school or institute of higher education in Maine
• Maine driver’s license number or last four digits of Social Security Number

Automatic registration

On June 19, 2019, Gov. Janet Mills signed an automatic voter registration bill into law that was scheduled for implementation in 2022. The law registers voters through the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

Maine has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.

Governor Janet T. Mills (D) signed L.D. 1126 into law on July 9, 2021, allowing online voter registration in Maine. This legislation went into effect on November 1, 2023.

Same-day registration

Maine allows same-day voter registration.

Residency requirements

To register to vote in Maine, you must be a resident of the state. State law does not specify a length of time for which you must have been a resident to be eligible.

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

Maine does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual must attest that they are a U.S. citizen when registering to vote.

All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. As of January 2025, six states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, and New Hampshire — had passed laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration. However, only two of those states' laws were in effect, in Arizona and New Hampshire. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allowed noncitizens to vote in some local elections as of November 2024. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.

Verifying your registration

The Maine voter information lookup service allows residents to check their voter registration status online.

Voter ID requirements

Maine does not require voters to present identification while voting. If a voter registers to vote on Election Day, he or she must provide identification and proof of residence.

See also

2019 measures

• 2019 ballot measures
• Bond issues on the ballot
• Transportation on the ballot

Maine

• Maine ballot measures
• Maine ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Maine Legislative Document 1850 (2019)