Knutson v. Department of Secretary of State

• Decision Date: 28 July 2008
• Docket Number: Docket: Ken-08-375.
• Citation: 2008 ME 124,954 A.2d 1054
• Parties: John KNUTSON v. DEPARTMENT OF SECRETARY OF STATE and Herbert J. Hoffman.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

954 A.2d 1054

2008 ME 124

John KNUTSON v. DEPARTMENT OF SECRETARY OF STATE and Herbert J. Hoffman.

Docket: Ken-08-375.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Argued: July 24, 2008.

Decided: July 28, 2008.

Order Staying Mandate August 20, 2008.

Daniel W. Walker, Esq. (orally), Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios, LLC, Augusta, ME, for John Knutson.

G. Steven Rowe, Attorney General, Phyllis Gardiner, Asst. Atty. Gen. (orally), Office of Attorney General, Augusta, ME, for the Secretary of State.

John H. Branson, Esq. (orally), Portland, ME, for Herbert J. Hoffman.

Panel: SAUFLEY, C.J., and CLIFFORD, SILVER, MEAD, and GORMAN, JJ.

SAUFLEY, C.J.

[¶1] We are presented with two questions in this challenge by John Knutson to the potential nonparty candidacy of Herbert J. Hoffman for the office of United States Senator. Both are questions of first impression.

[¶2] The first question is as follows: when petitions in support of a prospective candidate are circulated for signatures, must the circulator have direct personal contact with potential signors and observe the signatures, or is it sufficient that the circulator be in some unspecified proximity to signors? The Secretary of State concluded, pursuant to 21-A M.R.S. § 354(7)(A) (2007), that the circulator must be personally involved and observe the signatures. We agree.

[¶3] The second question is as follows: if the circulator has misunderstood this obligation, but only one specific signature on each affected petition has been proved to have been acquired without the circulator's direct observation, is the appropriate remedy to strike the entire petition, or to strike only the invalid signature? We conclude that the plain language of the statute requires that each of the three petitions be stricken in their entirety, and, thus, we must vacate the judgment of the Superior Court affirming the Secretary's determination that the three petitions were valid.

I. BACKGROUND

[¶4] Hoffman is a prospective nonparty candidate for the office of United States Senator.¹ In order to be placed on the ballot, he was required to present to the Secretary of State 4,000 valid signatures on appropriately circulated petitions, pursuant to 21-A M.R.S. § 354(5)(C) (2007). Hoffman was assisted in his signature gathering effort by approximately forty to forty-five people. Many of these individuals swore oaths as petition circulators, including Hoffman himself. Hoffman also received assistance from his daughter and another individual in collecting signatures on at least three petitions that Hoffman personally circulated.

[¶5] Hoffman presented more than 4,000 signatures to the Secretary within the time required by statute. Following a challenge by John Knutson both to multiple signatures and whole petitions, the Secretary found that certain signatures were not valid.² Among the signatures invalidated by the Secretary were three on petitions that Hoffman personally signed as circulator that were not collected within Hoffman's personal and visual oversight.³ The Secretary concluded that 21-A M.R.S. § 354(7)(A), which requires voters to sign in the circulator's "presence," requires both "physical presence" and "awareness," and that the circulator must not be "too far away to see the voters sign their names." Accordingly, the Secretary invalidated three of the challenged signatures, each on a separate petition, based on the factual finding that the voters signed the petitions outside the circulator's presence. Beyond those three signatures, however, the Secretary found that Knutson had failed to prove that any other specific signatures suffered from that particular defect. The Secretary rejected Knutson's argument that the three petitions should be entirely voided because they contained invalid signatures, that is, signatures that had not been observed by the circulator.

[¶6] Ultimately, the Secretary determined that Hoffman had presented 4,112 signatures, including seventy-four signatures that were determined by the Secretary to be invalid, leaving 4,038 valid signatures, a sufficient number for the nomination of Hoffman to the Senate candidacy.

[¶7] Knutson appealed the Secretary's decision to the Superior Court, pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 80B and 21-A M.R.S. § 356(2)(D) (2007), urging the court to conclude that Hoffman's oath was not in compliance with section 354(7)(A) because Hoffman could not accurately aver that the three signatures had been provided in his presence as required by 21-A M.R.S. § 354(7)(A), and, therefore, that each of the three petitions must be declared void. If those petitions were voided, Hoffman would have insufficient signatures to be placed on the ballot.⁴ Following argument, the Superior Court (Kennebec County, Marden, J.) affirmed the decision of the Secretary. By statute, we are required to render our opinion within fourteen days of the Superior Court's decision, see 21-A M.R.S. § 356(2)(E) (2007).

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

[¶8] Because the Superior Court acted in an appellate capacity when it considered this matter, we review the decision of the Secretary directly, reviewing for findings not supported by the evidence, errors of law, or abuse of discretion, see Palesky v. Secretary of State, 1998 ME 103, ¶ 9, 711 A.2d 129, 132 (citing Maine Bankers Ass'n v. Bureau of Banking, 684 A.2d 1304, 1305-06 (Me.1996)). Here, the Secretary's factual findings are not challenged, and the only issues presented relate to the application of Maine's election laws.

[¶9] In construing Maine statutes, our primary purpose is to give effect to the intent of the Legislature. Arsenault v. Sec'y of State, 2006 ME 111, ¶ 11, 905 A.2d 285, 287-88. We first effectuate the plain language of the statute. If the language of the statute is ambiguous, we defer to the Secretary's interpretation if that interpretation is reasonable. Id.

B. Signatures in the "Presence" of the Circulator

[¶10] The term "presence" is ambiguous, and, therefore, the first issue we consider is whether the Secretary correctly determined that the three invalidated signatures were signed outside the "presence" of Hoffman, the circulator. If "presence" means only proximity, and the petitions were signed in Hoffman's proximity, as he contends, then he complied with 21-A M.R.S. § 354(7)(A), his oath was accurate, and our analysis would end.

[¶11] The operative law, 21-A M.R.S. § 354(7)(A) provides:

7. Certification of petitions. A nomination petition shall be verified and certified as follows.

A. The circulator of a nomination petition shall verify by oath or affirmation before a notary public or other person authorized by law to administer oaths or affirmations that all of the signatures to the petition were made in the circulator's presence and that to the best of the circulator's knowledge and belief each signature is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be; each signature authorized under section 153-A was made by the authorized signer in the presence and at the direction of the voter; and each person is a resident of the electoral division named in the petition.

(Emphasis added.) This requirement finds its foundation in the Maine Constitution, which, in almost identical language, requires that the circulator of a petition swear an oath verifying that each of the signatures was made in his presence. ME. CONST. art. IV, pt. 3, § 20.⁵

[¶12] Construing the language of the statute, the Secretary concluded that "presence," requires both "physical proximity" and "awareness." In so ruling, the Secretary recognized the absence of a statutory definition, and appropriately referred to the context of the provision at issue, which requires the circulator to take an oath that "each signature is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be" and that each signatory "is a resident of the electoral division named in the petition." 21-A M.R.S. § 354(7)(A). As the Secretary concluded, "it is not enough for a circulator to be in the general area where signatures are gathered. If he is too far away to see the voters sign their names, then he also cannot verify that each signature is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be."

[¶13] This analysis is eminently sensible, and not directly challenged by any party. We conclude that the Secretary's construction of section 354(7)(A) has the benefit of being both reasonable, thus, requiring our deference, and correct. Accordingly, the Secretary did not err in concluding that (1) "in the presence of the circulator" means under the direct observation of that circulator, and (2) three petitions contained signatures that must be invalidated because they were not collected in the presence of the circulator.

C. Remedy

[¶14] The next question is whether Hoffman's misunderstanding of his responsibility as a circulator to be present when signatures were collected, combined with the consequent invalidation of three signatures on three separate petitions, requires the voiding of all three petitions.

[¶15] Hoffman, as the circulator of the three petitions, took an oath averring "that all of the signatures to the petition were made in the circulator's presence." 21-A M.R.S. § 354(7)(A). His oath was inaccurate. Three specific signatures were gathered outside of his presence. Hoffman himself also conceded at the hearing that: (1) there were times when he used the assistance of another person to collect the signatures for which he was the circulator; (2) his daughter used a separate clipboard to collect signatures when he was the circulator; (3) he thought that being within ten or fifteen feet of his noncirculator "assistant" was acceptable; (4) another individual gathered a few signatures while he, Hoffman, was engaged in dealing with other responsibilities; and (5) he "might have" left his daughter alone for a brief period to collect signatures while he was otherwise engaged. Thus, there is no question that Hoffman could not take an...