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.
