Lead Opinion
[¶ 1] Intervenor Mary Adams appeals from the judgment of the Superior Court (Kennebec County, Marden, J.), vacating a decision of the Secretary of State in which the Secretary concluded that a citizen initiative petition known as the “Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights” is supported by the timely filing of a sufficient number of valid signatures. The court held that, pursuant to 21-A M.R.S. § 903-A (2005), the Secretary erred in accepting petitions that were filed one year and three days after the petition was issued. Because we conclude that the provision of section 903-A requiring petitions to be filed within one year of the petition’s date of issuance is inconsistent with the Maine Constitution, we vacate the judgment of the Superior Court and remand for entry of judgment affirming the decision of the Secretary of State.
I. BACKGROUND
[¶ 2] Mary Adams submitted an application for a direct initiative of legislation to the Secretary of State in August 2004. After making revisions to the proposed language of the petition, the Secretary approved the form of the petition to be submitted to the voters, and he issued the form to Adams on October 21, 2004. See 21-A M.R.S. § 901 (2005). Following the printing of petitions as required by 21-A M.R.S. § 901(3-B) (2005), Adams and other supporters of the initiative (whom we refer to collectively herein as Adams) began collecting signatures. On Friday, October 21, 2005, Adams filed petitions with the Secretary containing 54,127 signatures. On the next business day, Monday, October 24, '2005, at 8:15 A.M., Adams filed petitions containing an additional 4,024 signatures.
[¶ 3] The number of signatures required for the measure to validly invoke
[¶ 4] On February 24, 2006, Kathleen McGee filed in the Superior Court a petition for review of final agency action pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 80C and 21-A M.R.S. § 905(2) (2005), challenging the Secretary’s decision to accept the petitions filed on October 24, 2005. The court granted Adams’s motion to intervene. Following oral argument, the court entered its judgment on April 4. The court vacated the Secretary’s decision, holding that the Secretary had no authority to accept the petitions that were filed beyond the statutory deadline and the deadline was not unconstitutional because “[i]t is patently obvious that the legislature has enacted a mandatory scheme to provide a degree of impossibility in the violation of the constitutional provision requiring signatures no older than one year from the date on the petition.” Adams appealed, and we ordered expedited briefing and argument in accordance with 21-A M.R.S. § 905(3) (2005).
II. DISCUSSION
A. Standard of Review
[¶ 5] Because the Superior Court acted as an intermediate appellate court, we directly review the Secretary of State’s decision. Palesky v. Sec’y of State,
B. Constitutional and Statutory Framework
[¶ 6] The power of the people of Maine to legislate by direct initiative is set forth in article TV, part third, section 18 of the Maine Constitution. Section 18 includes two timeframes relevant to this case. The
The electors may propose to the Legislature for its consideration any bill ... by written petition addressed to the Legislature or to either branch thereof and filed in the office of the Secretary of State by the hour of 5:00 p.m., on or before the 50th day after the date of convening of the Legislature in first regular session or on or before the 25th day after the date of convening of the Legislature in second regular session. If the 50th or 25th day, whichever applies, is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the period runs until the hour of 5:00 p.m., of the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.
ME. CONST, art. IV, pt. 8, § 18(1).
[¶ 7] The second timeframe is a limit related to the age of the signatures gathered by circulators. “The date each signature was made shall be written next to the signature on the petition, and no signature older than one year from the written date on the petition shall be valid.” Id. § 18(2).
[¶ 8] Applying these constitutional time-frames, the fiftieth day after the convening of the first regular session of the 122nd Legislature was January 20, 2005, and the twenty-fifth day after the convening of the second regular session was January 30, 2006. All of the signatures in the petitions presented by Adams were obtained within one year of October 24, 2005. Thus, there is no question that by filing sufficient valid signatures on or before October 24, 2005, and before January 30, 2006, Adams met the constitutional filing requirements for proposing an initiative to the second regular session of the 122nd Legislature.
[¶ 9] We turn then to the statutory provision at issue. The Constitution authorizes the Legislature to enact laws “not inconsistent with the Constitution for applying the people’s veto and direct initiative” and “to establish procedures for determination of the validity of written petitions.” ME. CONST, art. IV, pt. 3, § 22;
[¶ 10] Exercising that authority, the Legislature has enacted a number of statutes establishing procedural rules for initiatives. See 21-A M.R.S. §§ 901-906 (2005). Pertinent to the matter before us is 21-A M.R.S. § 903-A, which provides that petitions must be filed within one year of their issuance:
1. Filing. Filing of petitions in accordance with the deadlines specified in the Constitution of Maine, Article TV, Part Third, Section 18 must be completed within one year of the date of issuance under this chapter.
2. Invalid petition. Petitions not filed in accordance with the deadlines specified in the Constitution of Maine,
C. Authority of the Secretary of State to Accept a Late Filing
[¶ 11] The date of issuance of Adams’s petition was October 21, 2004. See 21-A M.R.S. § 901. The petitions she filed on October 24, 2005, thus were not filed within one year of the date of issuance as required by section 903-A. Adams and the Secretary nevertheless argue that the Secretary had the authority to accept those petitions.
[¶ 12] In assessing their arguments, we begin with the plain language of the statute. See Melanson,
[¶ 13] Adams and the Secretary argue, however, that petitions may be filed after the one-year deadline in section 903-A(l) as long as they “substantially comply” with constitutional and statutory requirements. The Secretary cites cases from a number of other states in which courts have adopted a substantial compliance standard in order to protect the people’s right under the state constitution to legislate by direct initiative. See, e.g., Costa v. Superior Court,
[¶ 14] Adams and the Secretary contend, based on that 1924 advisory opinion and other cases applying the mandatory-directory distinction, that the one-year time limit in section 903-A is directory and accordingly may not be binding. We need not discuss our prior decisions on this issue because they have been superseded, for purposes of the interpretation of this statute, by two legislative enactments, one of general effect and one particular to the election law.
[¶ 15] The Legislature indicated a particularly firm resolve on this point when it enacted, almost simultaneously, a very similar provision directly applicable to election laws. Title 21-A M.R.S. § 7 (2005), effective September 30, 1989, see P.L.1989, ch. 166, § 1, provides in relevant part: “When used in this Title, the words ‘shall’ and ‘must’ are used in a mandatory sense to impose an obligation to act or refrain from acting in the manner specified by the context.” Sections 71(9-A) and 7 are both applicable to the interpretation of section 903-A, the relevant portions of which were enacted in 1994 and amended in 1998. See P.L.1993, ch. 695, § 35; P.L. 1997, ch. 637, § 1.
[¶ 16] The rules of construction provided by sections 71(9-A) and 7 are dispositive here in the absence of statutory language plainly supporting a contrary interpretation. The word “must” in section 903-A(l) is mandatory in meaning. The statute requires that initiative petitions be filed within one year of the date of issuance, and gives the Secretary no discretion or authority to accept late-filed petitions, no matter how substantially they may comply with other statutory or constitutional requirements.
[¶ 17] The statutory deadline means what is says. The petitions Adams filed on October 24 were late pursuant to section 903-A(l), and, if that statute is consistent with the Constitution, the court did not err in concluding that the Secretary had no authority to accept them.
D. Constitutionality of Section 903-A
1. Standard of Review
[¶ 18] We turn then to the constitutionality of section 903-A. We first note that because section 903-A is not ambiguous, we have no occasion to apply the rule of
[¶ 19] In determining the constitutionality of the statute, we ask: (1) did the Legislature have the authority to enact statutes creating procedures related to the initiative process; (2) if so, is the statute inconsistent on its face with the Constitution; and (3) if not, does the statute otherwise create an abridgment of or undue burden upon the people’s constitutional right of initiative.
2. Legislative Authority
[¶ 20] There is no question that the Legislature is authorized by the Constitution to enact laws “for applying” the direct initiative right of the people and “to establish procedures for determination of the validity of written petitions.” Me. Const, art. IV, pt. 3, § 22. This authorization is limited, however, by the existing constitutional scheme and the explicit direction that the statutes must be “not inconsistent with the Constitution.” Id. In addition, legislative action to implement the right is permitted, but not required. The constitutional provisions were written in such a fashion that they could be entirely self-executing:
Although the constitution (art. IV, pt. 3, § 22) contemplates that the legislature will enact laws to implement the direct initiative, any such laws, of course, must be consistent with the constitutional provision setting up the direct initiative, i.e., section 18; until the legislature does enact laws not inconsistent with section 18, the constitutional provisions are expressly declared to be self-executing.
Allen v. Quinn,
[¶ 21] We have previously recognized the importance of the right of initiative, and again conclude that the right of the people to initiate and seek to enact legislation is an absolute right. Farris ex rel. Dorsky v. Goss,
3. Is the Statute Inconsistent with the Constitution?
[¶ 22] The question of the statute’s consistency with the Constitution is at the heart of this case. The statute creates a limited period for circulation and establishes a one-year deadline from issuance of the petition to filing with the Secretary of State for the exercise of the people’s right of initiative. The Constitution not only
[¶ 23] To be sure, the Constitution does not explicitly prohibit or allow the establishment of a deadline. The question thus presented is whether the Constitution contains, implicit within its provisions, the right of the circulator, within reason, to choose when to file the petitions. For the following reasons, we conclude that it does.
[¶ 24] Any analysis of the initiative provisions in the Constitution must take account of their significance and purpose. The direct initiative right was added to the Constitution by an amendment effective in 1909. Resolves 1907, ch. 121, passed in 1908. Prior to the enactment of the initiative amendment, the ability to enact legislation rested solely with the Legislature. The amendment placed in the hands of the people a powerful tool for shaping and creating legislation. This fundamental change in the form of government reserved directly to the people a power that had previously been held solely by the people’s elected representatives.
In short, the sovereign which is the people has taken back, subject to the terms and limitations of the amendment, a power which the people vested in the Legislature when Maine became a state. The significance of this change must not be overlooked, particularly by this court whose duty it is to so construe legislative action that the power of the people to enact their laws shall be given the scope which their action in adopting this amendment intended them to have.
Fams,
[¶ 25] “The broad purpose of the direct initiative is the encouragement of participatory democracy. By section 18 ‘the people, as sovereign, have retaken unto themselves legislative power,’ and that constitutional provision must be liberally construed to facilitate, rather than to handicap, the people’s exercise of their sovereign power to legislate.” Allen,
[¶ 26] It is against this backdrop that we review the constitutional initiative provisions. There are only two time-based requirements related to filing contained in the Constitution. First, if petitions are not filed by the fiftieth day after the start of the first regular session or the twenty-fifth day after the start of the second regular session, they cannot be addressed to that particular session of the Legislature. No constitutional provision, however, prevents them from being filed later and addressed to a later session. Second, when the petitions are filed, only signatures that were obtained within one year of the date of filing will be valid.
[¶ 27] Pursuant to this constitutional scheme, circulators have significant flexibility in determining when to file with the Secretary of State. This flexibility is not simply an oversight or an unimportant part of the constitutional right of initiative. The process of collecting the number of signatures required to initiate a petition can be arduous. There may be fits and starts along the way. There may be unforeseen delays. Thus, allowing the circu-lators reasonable flexibility in completing the process is not only consistent with the constitutional right at issue, we conclude it
[¶ 28] We turn then to the statute limiting the circulation time to no more than one year. That one-year deadline, found in the current version of section 903-A, was enacted in 1998. P.L.1997, ch. 637, § 1. It substantially reduced the three-year deadline previously enacted in 1994. See P.L.1993, ch. 695, § 35 (codified at 21-A M.R.S.A. § 903-A (Supp.1994)). The amendment reducing circulation time to one year was introduced at the request of the Secretary of State’s office, 3 Legis. Rec. H-1761 (2d Reg.Sess.1998), and followed closely on the heels of the discovery of fraud in the presentation of a different initiative petition, see Palesky,
[¶ 29] The legislative history of the 1998 amendment discloses the reasons for the reduction in circulation time: to prevent “stale” signatures from being submitted, to generally discourage forgery and other signature-related chicanery, and to make statutory deadlines “consistent with the Constitution.” 3 Legis. Rec. H-1761 (2d Reg.Sess.1998); see also L.D.2082, Summary (118th Legis.1998). Legislators were particularly concerned that a longer circulation period left an opportunity for an unscrupulous initiative proponent to perpetrate a fraud by altering the dates of signatures that were more than one year old, as had happened in the then-recent high-profile case. 3 Legis. Rec. H-1761 (2d Reg.Sess.1998); see Palesky,
[¶ 30] One intended and practical effect of the statutory one-year circulation period is to relieve the Secretary of the responsibility of examining the dates of signatures on petitions to determine whether any of them are more than one year old. The Secretary points out, however, that the dates must still be scrutinized to be sure that the signatures were affixed before the circulator’s oath and the municipal registrar’s certification. See ME. CONST, art. IV, pt. 3, § 20. Nonetheless, the one-year deadline in section 903-A does remove the opportunity for one type of fraud, and to that extent, it undoubtedly has a beneficial effect on the integrity of the initiative process.
[¶ 31] We also agree with McGee that in aligning the one-year age limit for signatures with a statutory circulation deadline of one year, the legislative intention was to make the statute more consistent with the Constitution. Unfortunately, because the two timeframes have very different effects on the process, the intended consistency has not been achieved.
[¶ 32] In contrast to the statute, the constitutional signature-age provision, limiting the period of time within which signatures, once filed, will be found valid, does not establish a filing deadline tied to anything other than the timing of the legislative session.
[¶ 33] Thus, although both the signature-age provision of the Constitution and the statutory limit on circulation use a one-year period, they create very different limits on the circulator’s ability to present an initiative to the Legislature. When viewed in light of the constitutional scheme, the statutorily imposed one-year deadline for filing petitions is a substantial restriction, directly inconsistent with the circulator’s more flexible options provided by the Constitution.
[¶34] Another inconsistency exists in the actual number of days available for collecting signatures when the Constitution is compared with the statute. Any signature not more than one year old will be valid pursuant to the Constitution, assuming other requirements are met. Yet, pursuant to the statute, less than a year will actually be available for collecting those signatures. Even when an initiative proponent is fully organized from the start and plans to circulate petitions as soon as possible after issuance, it may take several days to have the petitions printed, as required by 21-A M.R.S. § 901(3 — B), and distributed throughout the state, with the result of effectively reducing the constitutional signature-validity period. Similarly, when the petitions are delivered to the local governments for certification, the cir-culators must, by necessity, stop collecting signatures, thus reducing by another ten days the opportunity for signature collection and making determinations regarding the timing of signature collection all the more critical.
[¶ 35] It follows that section 903-A substantially restricts the options provided by the Constitution, ME. CONST, art. TV, pt. 3, § 18(1), which allows the circulators to choose to present their petitions to either the first or second regular session of the Legislature. In contrast, applying the statute, any petition, once issued, must be filed within one year, 21-A M.R.S. § 903-A(l), and, once filed, must be presented to the next legislative session to which it could be presented, pursuant to section 18(1). Again, the Constitution, in contrast to the statute, provides a flexible time-frame rather than a limited period.
[¶ 36] In reaching this conclusion we are mindful that the Legislature itself understands the legislative session dates set out in the Constitution as the truest “deadlines.” Notwithstanding the one-year deadline referenced in section 903-A, section 901(1) specifically provides: “A direct initiative of legislation must meet the fifing deadlines specified in the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part Third, Section 18.” No other limitations, no deadline tied to the date of issuance, and no reference to section 903-A are contained in section 901(1).
[¶ 37] Moreover, in setting the time-frames for the Secretary’s determination
[¶ 38] Thus, the one-year-from-issuance deadline established by section 903-A is inconsistent with both the Constitution and statutory provisions on point. While the Legislature may have the authority, pursuant to article IV, part third, section 22, to set reasonable limits on the time allowed for circulating and filing petitions, the one-year limit set by section 903-A is inconsistent with section 18 of the Constitutional provisions and conflicts with statutory provisions acknowledging section 18.
[¶ 39] In sum, section 903-A(l) is facially inconsistent with the Constitution because it denies initiative proponents the reasonable flexibility allowed by the Constitution to circulate their petitions, to choose a filing date, and to file up to the dates set out in article IV, part third, section 18. No matter how salutary the Legislature’s motives in enacting it, the statute conflicts with the timeframes set by the Constitution, and therefore it cannot stand.
4. Abridgment of Rights
[¶ 40] Because we have concluded that section 903-A is inconsistent with the constitutional provisions creating the people’s right to initiate legislation, we do not further address the question of abridgment of the constitutionally-protected right, except to say that the same limitations that make the statute inconsistent with the Constitution could also be found to directly or indirectly abridge that right.
5. Conclusion
[¶ 41] Accordingly, in keeping with our responsibility to liberally construe the provisions establishing the constitutional initiative process, we must conclude that 21-A M.R.S. § 903-A is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution setting forth the people’s direct initiative right. We therefore declare invalid subsections 1 and 2 of section 903-A. Because the one-year statutory deadline is invalid, the Secretary did not err in accepting and counting the petitions Adams filed on October 24, 2005.
The entry is:
Judgment vacated. Remanded for entry of judgment affirming the decision of the Secretary of State.
Notes
. The Constitution provides for the enactment of statutes permitting judicial review of the Secretary’s decision, "to be completed within 100 days from the date of filing of a written petition in the office of the Secretary of State.” ME. CONST, art. IV, pt. 3, § 22. We are unable to comply with that time limit in this case because the Secretary, apparently following the different timeframe set forth in 21-A M.R.S. § 905(1) (2005), took more than 100 days after the filing of the petitions to reach his decision. See Allen v. Quinn,
. Article IV, part third, section 22 of the Maine Constitution provides in full:
Until the Legislature shall enact further laws not inconsistent with the Constitution for applying the people's veto and direct initiative, the election officers and other officials shall be governed by the provisions of this Constitution and of the general law, supplemented by such reasonable action as may be necessary to render the preceding sections self executing. The Legislature may enact laws not inconsistent with the Constitution to establish procedures for determination of the validity of written petitions. Such laws shall include provision for judicial review of any determination, to be completed within 100 days from the date of filing of a written petition in the office of the Secretary of State.
. In Davric Maine Corp. v. Maine Harness Racing Commission,
. Adams also argues that even if she did not sufficiently comply with the deadline of section 903-A(l), the only sanction for her noncompliance is that the petitions are “invalid for circulation.” 21-A M.R.S. § 903-A(2). Invalid for circulation, she says, implies valid for filing. We disagree. The mandatory nature of section 903-A(l) makes an explicit sanction of invalidity for filing unnecessary. The requirement that "[fjiling ... must be completed within one year of the date of issuance” necessarily implies a prohibition on later filing. Id. § 903-A(l). Thus, section 903-A(2) is most reasonably read to impose an additional sanction of invalidity for future circulation. The Legislature did not intend the time limit of section 903-A(l) to be an empty and easily avoided formality. The effect of subsection 2 is that, once the proponents of an initiative miss the one-year deád-line in subsection 1, they cannot simply ask the Secretary to re-issue the same petition form, thus triggering a new deadline a year later, and then circulate petitions and file them with signatures gathered both before and after the missed deadline.
. Pursuant to article IV, part third, section 18(2), no signature is valid if it is more than one year old at the time of filing with the Secretary. The “written date on the petition” referred to in section 18(2) is necessarily the date of each signature. The Constitution specifically empowers the Legislature to create procedures for determining validity, ME. CONST. art. IV, pt. 3, § 22, and 21-A M.R.S. § 905(1) authorizes the Secretary to determine validity. The Secretary can determine validity only when petitions are filed with him for presentation to the Legislature. See ME. CONST, art. IV, pt. 3, § 18(1). Thus, the date of filing with the Secretary of State must be the date from which the age of signatures is measured for purposes of section 18(2).
. Although the same ten-day reduction occurs in implementation of the constitutional signature-staleness provision, the start date of collection can more flexibly take that into account in the absence of the statute’s rigid clock.
. We note that courts in other states have struck down as unconstitutional statutes that prescribed filing deadlines for initiative petitions stricter than those found in their state constitutions. Husebye v. Jaeger,
Concurrence Opinion
concurring.
[¶ 42] I would vacate the judgment of the Superior Court, but for different reasons than those of the Court. Pursuant to applicable rules of statutory construction, I
[¶ 43] In holding that section 903-A is unconstitutional, the Court finds no ambiguity in the statute. The Court relies on rules of construction found at 1 M.R.S. § 71(9-A) (2005) and 21-A M.R.S. § 7 (2005) to conclude that the word “must” in section 903-A(l) is mandatory, and operates to invalidate any petitions filed by Mary Adams after October 21, 2005. The Court then further concludes that section 903-A is in conflict with the applicable provisions of the Maine Constitution and strikes down its provision. See ME. CONST. art. TV, pt. 3, § 18. I view the statute differently, and, applying what I believe to be the proper rules of statutory construction, I would conclude that section 903-A, when properly construed, is constitutional, and that the Secretary of State properly accepted all the petitions filed by Mary Adams, including those filed on October 24.
[¶ 44] A cardinal rule of statutory construction is that “if we can reasonably interpret a statute as satisfying ... constitutional requirements, we must read it in such a way, notwithstanding other possible unconstitutional interpretations of the same statute.” Rideout v. Riendeau,
[¶ 45] This is particularly true in this ease, involving the citizen initiative provisions of the Constitution. In Allen v. Quinn, we held that such provisions “must be liberally construed to facilitate, rather than to handicap, the people’s exercise of their sovereign power to legislate.”
I.
[¶ 46] I agree that the language of section 903-A could be read the way the Court reads it — that the mandatory deadline for the filing of Adams’s petitions was October 21, 2005, and that no petitions filed after that date can be valid. In my view, however, the statute is not free of ambiguity and can be construed liberally to facilitate the right of the people to initiate legislation and to avoid its being declared unconstitutional. There is one construction of the statute that does not invalidate, for purposes of filing, the petitions that were turned in to the Secretary of State on October 24, 2005.
[¶ 47] Section 903-A provides in its entirety:
§ 903-A. Circulation
Petitions issued under this chapter may be circulated by any registered voter.
*946 1. Filing. Filing of petitions in accordance with the deadlines specified in the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part Third, Section 18 must be completed within one year of the date of issuance under this chapter.
2. Invalid Petition. Petitions not filed in accordance with the deadlines specified in the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part Third, Section 18 within one year of the date of issuance under this chapter are invalid for circulation.
21-A M.R.S. § 903-A.
[¶ 48] When read in isolation from subsection 2, subsection 1 provides that a petition must satisfy both the deadline established in section 18(1) of the Constitution, as well as the deadline that is one year from the date of the issuance of the petitions by the Secretary of State. Accordingly, based on the language of section 903-A(l) alone, one could reasonably conclude that the petitions presented to the Secretary of State by Adams on October 24 are invalid because, although all of the petitions were circulated within one year of the date of issuance, and were filed prior to the next occurring constitutional deadline, some of the petitions were not filed within the statutory deadline of one year from the date of issuance. This conclusion is premature, however, because subsection 1 is susceptible to at least one alternative construction when it is read together with subsection 2 and other provisions of chapter 11 of title 21-A.
[¶ 49] Section 903-A(2) addresses the consequences when petitions are not filed within both deadlines — the constitutional deadlines and the statutory deadline of one year from the date of the issuance of the petition. The only consequence expressed in title 21-A for failing to satisfy the deadlines addressed in section 903-A(l) is that the petitions are rendered invalid for any further circulation if they fail to satisfy either deadline. Subsection 2 does not provide that a failure to meet the statutory one-year deadline renders the petitions invalid for filing on or before the next-occurring constitutional deadline.
[¶ 50] Accordingly, subsection 1 and subsection 2, when read together, can be reasonably read so as not to invalidate for purposes of filing petitions circulated within section 903-A(l)’s one-year statutory deadline that are submitted to the Secretary of State after that deadline, but on or before the next occurring constitutional deadline.
[¶ 51] This alternative construction of section 903-A finds additional support in section 905 of the statute. Section 905 states that for the purposes of the Secretary’s determination of the validity of the petitions, the operative “final” deadline for filing petitions is not the statutory one-year from issuance date, but rather the more flexible constitutional deadline:
The Secretary of State shall determine the validity of the petition and issue a written decision stating the reasons for the decision within 30 days after the final date for filing the petitions in the Department of the Secretary of State under the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part Third, Section 17 or 18.
21-A M.R.S. § 905(1) (2005) (emphasis added). The “final date” to which section 905 refers is the constitutional deadline specified in section 18(1) that would have to occur on or after the last day of section 903-A(l)’s one-year statutory deadline.
[¶ 52] That the deadline for purposes of filing of petitions is not the one year from date of issuance statutory deadline in section 903-A(l) is further evidenced by the language of 21-A M.R.S. § 901(1) (2005). Captioned “Limitation on petitions,” section 901(1) makes no mention of section 903-A(l)’s one-year deadline and provides,
[¶ 53] Read together, sections 901(1), 903~A(1) and (2), and 905 can be reasonably construed to reflect two deadlines, one statutory and one constitutional, with the “final” deadline being the constitutional deadline that occurs on or after the completion of the statutory deadline. It is that “final” deadline, located in section 18, and not the one-year statutory provision that triggers the Secretary’s responsibility to determine the validity of the petition and issue a decision. See 21-A M.R.S. § 905(1).
[¶ 54] We are bound to construe statutes to avoid constitutional deficiencies. See Irish v. Gimbel,
II.
[¶ 55] Moreover, even if the one-year from issuance statutory deadline in section 903-A is read to apply to the filing of petitions, and not just to prohibit their further circulation, we are nevertheless still bound to construe the operative provisions, if we can do so reasonably, in a manner that upholds their constitutionality, see Rideout,
[¶ 56] The application of a directory standard as opposed to a mandatory standard has been applied by the Justices of this Court:
[B]roadly speaking, requirements in a statute which are of the very essence of the thing to be done and the ignoring of which would practically nullify the vital purpose of the statute itself are regarded by the courts as mandatory and imperative; while those directions or details which are not of the essence of the thing to be done but which are prescribed with a view to the orderly conduct of the business, the omission of*948 which would not prejudice the rights of interested parties, are regarded as directory, so far as the consequences of such omissions are concerned, unless they are followed by words of positive prohibition.
Opinion of the Justices,
[¶ 57] This construction of section 903-A is also consistent with the various provisions of chapter 11 detailing the duties and powers of the Secretary of State in the initiative process. Although there is no express provision of 21-A M.R.S. §§ 901-906 (2005) granting the Secretary the authority to accept applications in substantial, but not technical, compliance with the statute, sections 901 through 906 are nevertheless replete with provisions that require the Secretary to exercise discretion in connection with the initiative process. Indeed, in enacting these provisions, the Legislature provided for the Secretary of State’s inextricable involvement in almost every aspect of the legislation by initiative process from its inception to its completion. The Secretary designs the application to initiate proceedings for a direct initiative of legislation, 21-A M.R.S. § 901; may witness the voter’s signing of the application, 21-A M.R.S. § 901; reviews and determines the form of the petition to be submitted to the voters, 21-A M.R.S. § 901; and reviews the proposed law sought to be enacted, and has the discretion to reject or revise the proposed law, 21-A M.R.S. § 901(3-A). The Secretary then chooses whether to approve the form of the petition, 21-A M.R.S. § 901; drafts the ballot question, 21-A M.R.S. § 901(4); requests from the Revisor of Statutes a summary describing the content of the proposed law, 21-A M.R.S. § 901(5); decides whether to approve or amend the summary as is deemed appropriate, 21-A M.R.S. § 901(5); and prepares instructions specifying statutory and constitutional requirements, as well as the conditions in which signatures and/or petitions may be invalidated, 21-A M.R.S. § 903. Finally, the petitions are filed with the Secretary, and the Secretary then reviews the petitions, and is empowered to determine their validity and to issue a written decision to that effect. 21-A M.R.S. § 905(1). Thus, at every step of the initiative process, the Secretary is charged with making decisions. Such decision-making is the very essence of discretion. See Me. Taxpayers Action Network v. Sec’y of State,
[¶ 58] This case presents unique and exceptional circumstances that lead to a reasonable conclusion that section 903-A has been substantially complied with. The petitions were all circulated within one year of their issuance; no signatures were more than one year old; there was no suggestion of any kind of fraud or attempts to manipulate the petition circulating process; the petitions filed on October 24 were not filed on October 21 because of inadvertence, and not because those filing the petitions intentionally disregarded the statutory deadlines; no petitions were eir-
[¶ 59] The power of the citizens to legislate through the initiative process is a right of the utmost importance. Because section 903-A(l) relates to the initiative right to legislate vested in the citizens, any doubt as to its meaning “must be liberally construed to facilitate, rather than to handicap, the people’s exercise of their sovereign power to legislate.” Allen,
[¶ 60]' Further, the Secretary acted within his discretion when he determined that the petitions were valid. The petitions were circulated well within both the constitutional and statutory deadlines, and most were filed within both deadlines. Those not filed on October 21 were filed on the next business day. In the unique circumstances of this case, the Secretary acted with reason when he concluded there was substantial compliance by Adams with section 903-A.
[¶ 61] Accordingly, pursuant to either of two reasonable constructions of section 903-A, both upholding its constitutionality and facilitating the right of the citizens of Maine to participate in the process to initiate legislations, I concur in the Court’s conclusion that this matter should be remanded to the Superior Court for entry of a judgment affirming the decision of the Secretary of State.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring.
[¶ 62] I join in Part I of Justice Clifford’s opinion because I conclude that the language of 21-A M.R.S. § 903-A(l) (2005) is ambiguous and, for the jurisprudential reasons he addresses, should be construed as embodying two deadlines, one statutory and the other constitutional. The failure to satisfy the statutory deadline associated with section 903-A(l)’s one-year circulation period subjects the petition to section 903-A(2)’s prohibition on circulation outside the one-year period, but the final deadline for filing the petition is the next occurring constitutional deadline in accordance with article IV, part third, section 18(1) of the Maine Constitution.
[¶ 63] With this construction of section 903-A, Adams’s petition was timely because it was circulated within the statutori
[¶ 64] Turning to the constitutional issue, the Constitution does not intend the citizens’ initiative process to be boundless. It authorizes the Legislature in article IV, part third, section 22 to establish “procedures for [the] determination of the validity of written petitions.” Because the Legislature’s adoption of reasonable procedures designed to ensure the validity of petitions is an explicit part of the constitutional scheme, the enactment of a defined circulation period is not inconsistent with that scheme if the period does not abridge the citizens’ initiative right in any substantial way. The Court’s interpretation of the Constitution as precluding a one-year circulation period should not prevent the Legislature from adopting a circulation period that is of sufficient length to assure that once the petition process is initiated, the citizens have the ability to control whether the petition will be considered by the next occurring first regular session or second regular session of the Legislature.