Voters in Maine approved both questions on their ballots. Question 1 authorized $105 million in bonds for transportation infrastructure projects. Question 2 amended the state constitution to allow for persons with physical disabilities to use alternative signatures to sign initiative petitions. The vote for both measures was 76% in favor and 24% against.
As of 2019, the Maine State Constitution required people to sign petitions for citizen-initiated ballot measures with their original signature. The state constitution did not have a similar requirement for candidate petitions.
In 2005, the Maine State Legislature passed a law allowing persons with physical disabilities to register to vote and sign candidate petitions using an alternative signature, defined as a signature stamp or having a registered voter sign the petition on the person’s behalf. Melissa Packard, the state director of elections, said, “it was determined that a constitutional amendment would be needed to authorize a similar process for direct initiative and people’s veto petitions.”
