MAINE PUBLIC • March 1, 2024
A federal judge has halted enforcement of a voter-approved law designed to bar foreign government-owned entities from spending money to influence Maine referendums. The 40-page decision by U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen is not the final ruling, but suggests that she views significant portions of the law — backed by 86% of Maine voters in November — could include domestically held corporations and, as a result, are unconstitutional. The law is the result of a citizen's initiative last year in response to record spending on a 2021 ballot campaign aimed at halting Central Maine Power's transmission corridor through western Maine. The effort originally targeted a multimillion-dollar electioneering effort by Hydro-Quebec, which is wholly owned by the government of Quebec. But its list of opponents grew to include CMP and Versant Power, a subsidiary of ENMAX which is owned by the government of Calgary, Alberta.