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Legislature sustains Mills' veto on bill aimed at preventing foreign influence in state elections

The vetoes come after concerns about the bill's unintended consequences regarding the first amendment.

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Legislature has a lot on its plate before the current session wraps up.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives sustained Governor Janet Mills’ veto on a bill that would have prevented foreign influence on Maine's elections.

State representatives sustained Governor Mills’ veto of LD 1610, which would have prohibited campaign spending by foreign entities, in turn preventing Maine-based businesses that have at least a five-percent share of foreign ownership from participating in ballot initiative campaigns.

While the bill had bipartisan support and more than 80,000 signatures from Mainers who were in support of the bill, Governor Mills and state representatives vetoed it after concerns about its unintended consequences regarding the first amendment.

In Governor Mills’ veto letter, she stated, "While I strongly support and share the desire to find ways to prevent foreign influence in our elections, the language of the bill is too broad and would likely result in the unintended consequence of effectively silencing legitimate voices…"

"I think our elected officials have a responsibility to protect our elections, so it’s always disappointing when they choose not to do so," Kaitlin LaCasse, Campaign manager for Protect Maine Elections, said.

But the bill may not be as black and white as it may seem.

"There is a free speech component here," Maine Association of Broadcasters president Tim Moore, said. "Those foreign owners do have a voice and to restrict that voice and then fine the people who convey that message to the public is a free speech problem."

The bill would also require news outlets to track the sources of funding for campaigns that purchase ads on the outlet's platform.

State representatives voted 73-50 in favor to sustain the governor's veto, which came as a disappointment to some.

"We thought this one we'd be able to get over the line because it's so overwhelmingly supported, deep into the 80 percent support level, which is beyond public opinion. It really gets into public values," Senator Rick Bennett, R-Oxford, said.

Mills said the bill is broad and the state "can find a way to prevent foreign influence in our elections by enacting a more narrowly tailored and easily understood statute."

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