BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 14, 2020
The seismic decision by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday to effectively prevent a question that would kill Central Maine Power’s $1 billion corridor proposal from going on the November ballot will have repercussions for years. The court made a rare intervention into referendum politics when it rejected an argument from Secretary of State Matt Dunlap that voters should be allowed to express opinions even if the law could not stand. That has happened on other referendums with constitutional issues, notably the ranked-choice voting law in 2016 later was brought into compliance by the Legislature. Judges distinguished this by noting difference in voter and legislative authority, but it dooms.