Concurrent Town Meeting & Secret Ballot Election?

Training for: Legal Notes

Question: Can a traditional “open” town meeting and a secret ballot election be held at the same time?

Answer: While no law expressly prohibits it, we don’t recommend it, for several reasons. For one, holding a simultaneous town meeting and secret ballot election, where voters go to the polls and mark their ballots in the privacy of a voting booth, as in State elections, could compel voters to choose between the two, at least for a time, because no one can be in both places – at the meeting and at the polls – at the same time. Thus, concurrent proceedings could interfere with the full and free exercise of the right to vote (a constitutional right).

Also, holding a simultaneous town meeting and secret ballot election could violate State law, which, by implication at least, prohibits taking up more than one article or item of business at the same time (see 30-A M.R.S.A. § 2523(2), which requires that town meeting business be stated, and presumably acted upon, in separate or distinct articles on the warrant).

We appreciate the desire to take care of town business as expeditiously as possible, but to avoid the above risks and the attendant voter complaints and potential litigation, we advise that town meetings and secret ballot elections be scheduled at different times during the same day or on different days (within 14 days if both are called by a single “bifurcated” or two-part warrant, see 30-A M.R.S.A. § 2528(3)(A).)

For much more on town meetings and secret ballot elections, see MMA’s Town Meeting & Elections Manual, available free to members at www.memun.org. (By R.P.F.)

Question: Can a traditional “open” town meeting and a secret ballot election be held at the same time?

Answer: While no law expressly prohibits it, we don’t recommend it, for several reasons. For one, holding a simultaneous town meeting and secret ballot election, where voters go to the polls and mark their ballots in the privacy of a voting booth, as in State elections, could compel voters to choose between the two, at least for a time, because no one can be in both places – at the meeting and at the polls – at the same time. Thus, concurrent proceedings could interfere with the full and free exercise of the right to vote (a constitutional right).

Also, holding a simultaneous town meeting and secret ballot election could violate State law, which, by implication at least, prohibits taking up more than one article or item of business at the same time (see 30-A M.R.S.A. § 2523(2), which requires that town meeting business be stated, and presumably acted upon, in separate or distinct articles on the warrant).

We appreciate the desire to take care of town business as expeditiously as possible, but to avoid the above risks and the attendant voter complaints and potential litigation, we advise that town meetings and secret ballot elections be scheduled at different times during the same day or on different days (within 14 days if both are called by a single “bifurcated” or two-part warrant, see 30-A M.R.S.A. § 2528(3)(A).)

For much more on town meetings and secret ballot elections, see MMA’s Town Meeting & Elections Manual, available free to members at www.memun.org. (By R.P.F.)