PORTLAND, Maine — Maine's highest court has rejected the latest effort from a national anti-gay marriage group to hide the identities of the donors who backed its effort in 2009 to repeal Maine's same-sex marriage law.
Maine's ethics commission fined the National Organization for Marriage — or NOM — about $50,000 last year for violating the state's campaign finance laws and ordered it to file a campaign finance report revealing the campaign's supporters.
The group was trying to delay filing of the report while it appealed the commission's decision. But the Maine Supreme Judicial Court has denied that request — saying it's unlikely the appeal will be successful.
"When out of state groups or groups in Maine are spending large amounts of money to influence elections here, the voters deserve to know who is trying to influence their votes," says Jonathan Wayne, executive director of the ethics commission. "It's important on principle that groups register and disclose their donors.
Wayne says commission staff will likely be expecting a campaign finance report from NOM in the near future.
Brian Brown, president of NOM, says he believes the group is being unfairly targeted because of its views on marriage.
