PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 9, 2024
Attorneys for the state of Maine and two major utility companies argued in federal appeals court Wednesday over the legality of a state law passed by voters last year that bans foreign governments from spending money on state and local races and referendum campaigns. The U.S. District Court in Portland got it wrong when it granted a preliminary injunction preventing the law from being enforced, argued Jonathan Bolton, an assistant attorney general representing the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices. The new law is important to prevent spending by foreign entities similar to what Maine experienced leading up to a 2021 referendum about whether to halt a controversial power transmission corridor, he told the panel of three justices in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.