On June 10, the Maine legislature gave final approval to LD 1041, which revises how a qualified party remains on the ballot. The bill will soon be forwarded to the Governor, who has 10 days to sign or veto it, not counting Sundays.

Existing law requires a party to poll 5% at either of the last two elections, for the office at the top of the ticket (Governor or President). The bill replaces that with the requirement that a party have 10,000 registered members who voted at the last election. Currently, 10,000 is 1.06% of the number of registered voters in Maine.

On June 9, voters of Portland, Maine elected a Commission to consider revising the city charter. Although the election was non-partisan, most voters were aware that three Greens were running. Ben Chipman was elected in a two-person contest in district 1, with 62.2% of the vote. Anna Trevorrow was elected to one of the at-large seats. Eight candidates were running for the at-large seats and four were to be elected. Trevorrow received 51.1%.

On June 9, Nova Scotia held an election for its provincial legislature. For the first time, the New Democratic Party won control of that body. The results are: 31 seats for New Democrats, 11 for the Liberals, 10 for the Progressive Conservatives. The Progressive Conservatives had been the majority party until this election.

The share of the popular vote was: New Democratic 45.3%, Liberal 27.2%, Progressive Conservative 24.5%, Green 2.3%, other .7%. Thanks to Rick Kissell for this news.