FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, Oct. 3, 2016
Contact: Kristen Schulze Muszynski
(207) 626-8404/ 441-7638

Citizens? Guide to the 2016 Maine Referendum Election available online

AUGUSTA ? As Election Day nears on Nov. 8, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap is reminding all Maine voters of a non-partisan resource that can help them make informed decisions at the polls: the 2016 Maine Citizen?s Guide to the Referendum Election.
The guide, prepared by the Department of the Secretary of State in collaboration with the attorney general, state treasurer and Office of Fiscal and Program Review, is an unbiased and non-partisan review of the issues that voters will consider at the polls this November.

The Citizens Guide provides detailed information about each question on the November ballot, said Dunlap. Voters can see the proposed legislation behind this year?s five citizen-initiated questions and the state bond proposal, as well as analysis of the intent and content of each question. Election law also allows for citizen advocacy statements to be published supporting or opposing questions, which provides voters with those viewpoints to consider.

This year, voters will decide on five citizens? initiatives and one bond issue that will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot:

Question 1: An Act to Legalize Marijuana
Question 2: An Act To Establish The Fund to Advance Public Kindergarten to Grade 12 Education
Question 3: An Act To Require Background Checks for Gun Sales
Question 4: An Act To Raise the Minimum Wage
Question 5: An Act To Establish Ranked-choice Voting
Question 6: An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue to Improve Highways, Bridges and Multimodal Facilities

The Citizens Guide is intended to provide as much information as possible on these complex issues so that voters have the opportunity to educate themselves before casting a ballot.

?Maine voters are among the most actively engaged in the nation, and were pleased to be able to help them make informed choices,? Dunlap said.

Voters can request absentee ballots online via the Secretary of State?s website at http://www.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/AbsenteeBallot/index.pl in person, by calling their town clerk, or in writing.