© 2024 Maine Public | Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.

In Court Filing, CMP PAC Challenges Whether Anti-Corridor Campaign Signatures Are Valid

"SAY NO TO 145-MILE CMP TRANSMISSION LINE THROUGH MAINE" VIA FACEBOOK

The political action committee for Central Maine Power is challenging whether opponents of its controversial transmission corridor have enough signatures to put the project on the November ballot.

In a court filing in Kennebec County Superior Court, CMP's Clean Energy Matters PAC alleges that many of the signatures gathered by the anti-corridor campaign are invalid because the petitions were notarized by people involved in the campaign. If the allegations are correct, it could undo a recent certification by the Maine Secretary of State that would allow voters to determine the fate of the $1 billion, 145-mile project.

CMP's PAC recently foreshadowed that it would contest that certification when it filed a private investigator's affidavit with state election officials. The private investigator said he had been hired to tail anti-corridor workers as they hustled to get more than 60,000 signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

A Superior Court judge could review CMP's challenge and potentially remand the case back to the Secretary of State to conduct an investigation.

Journalist Steve Mistler is Maine Public’s chief politics and government correspondent. He is based at the State House.