§ 21-A §1207 — Implementation and interpretation

1.
Implementation.
The Secretary of State shall implement the election districts established in this chapter pursuant to this Title and the Constitution of Maine. The Secretary of State shall inform the municipal clerks of the voting district or districts in which each municipality lies and shall provide copies of this chapter and district maps and narrative geographic descriptions of relevant election districts to those officials. The Secretary of State may resolve ambiguities concerning the location of election district lines consistent with subsection 2 and this chapter.
2.
Interpretation.
Where a road, street, waterway, boundary of a tract, boundary of a block group or boundary of a block is used as a boundary of an election district, the boundary line lies at the center of the street or road, at the thread of the waterway or at the boundary of the tract, block group or block, unless otherwise noted. When a description refers to a bridge or railroad line, the district boundary lies at the center of the bridge or railroad tracks. When a description refers to a railroad spur, it refers to the principal spur in the area. When a description uses the word "ocean," the district boundary line lies coincident with the legal boundary of the particular community along or within the Atlantic Ocean. When an election district includes a particular unorganized territory, it includes that unorganized territory as described in the United States Census for 1990, whether the territory is organized or unorganized on the effective date of this chapter. Unless otherwise noted, a district that names a municipality includes all of the municipality.
3.
Nonseverability.
It is the intent of the Legislature that the apportionment of the Maine Senate, the Maine House of Representatives and Maine congressional districts, as established in this chapter, become law as an entirety. If the apportionment of one or more of the bodies apportioned in this chapter is rendered invalid or unlawful by a court of law, it is the intent of the Legislature that the apportionment of all of the bodies apportioned in this chapter become void.

Legislative History

PL 1993, c. 628, §2 (NEW).