Clean Elections law leads to confusion Candidates paying lawyers to represent them in undecided races at issue

PORTLAND – The chairman of Maine’s ethics commission wants to clear up confusion around the state’s Clean Elections Act before the November elections.

The Clean Elections Act bars candidates from spending money on lawyers when indecisive vote counts send races to the courts. The problem cropped up twice in June primary elections, with publicly financed candidates uncertain what, if anything, they could spend hiring attorneys to plead their cases.

“It was a ticklish problem,” said Andrew Ketterer, chairman of the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, which dealt with the issue at its last meeting. “Every election cycle it seems like it’s happening to somebody.”

One answer might be to allow publicly funded candidates to again tap the public till during a recount. Another possible fix would be allowing them to spend private money, but that would run counter to the intent of the Clean Election Act.

The issue is unlikely to be fully resolved before November, when races between Republicans and Democrats could be more closely fought than the primaries, said Jonathan Wayne, the commission’s executive director.

Wayne acknowledged the potential for funding shortfalls during lengthy recounts. But he said the commission may not have the authority to resolve the problem on its own.

If an amendment to the Clean Elections Act is needed, any change would have to wait until the Legislature reconvenes next year.

In two June primaries, indecisive recounts meant races were settled by the Supreme Judicial Court. In both cases, the publicly financed candidates were disadvantaged, since their “clean” status barred them from spending money on lawyers.

“It is a problem that is likely to come up again this fall,” said Arn Pearson, executive director of the Maine Citizen Leadership Fund.

Richard Rhames, a publicly funded candidate, led Alan Casavant by two votes after a recount in House District 137, with three ballots in dispute. Rhames was not able to spend private money on a lawyer as the case was decided in Maine’s highest court.

Rhames found a lawyer who represented him to free, and won his race by a single vote.

“A clean elections candidate may be behind the eight ball,” Rhames said. “How do you get competent legal counsel to help you navigate through this legal morass?”