ASSOCIATED PRESS • April 28, 2020
Attorneys clashed over disputed petitions needed to put a $1 billion hydropower transmission project to a statewide vote Tuesday in the first Maine Supreme Judicial Court arguments delivered via video conferencing. Backers of the New England Clean Energy Connect contend Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap misinterpreted state law when he accepted petitions notarized by people who also performed other work for groups that were collecting signatures. If the court agrees, then the number of certified signatures would fall short of the threshold of about 63,000 needed for the November ballot.