The Maine Ethics Commission voted 3-2 on Thursday to launch a formal investigation into the National Organization for Marriage's funding of a state ballot measure that would strip newly won marriage rights for same-sex couples.
The MEC vote runs counter to a previous recommendation from the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices that the state should decline to investigate the campaign funding practices of NOM, a major contributor to Stand for Marriage Maine, which is spearheading support for the measure.
That recommendation, issued Tuesday, concluded that there was insufficient evidence indicating that NOM or any other group supporting the repeal initiative, known as Question 1, had violated state campaign reporting laws.
California gay activist Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, requested the investigation. Karger’s group had studied public records to identify businesses and individuals who supported California’s Proposition 8, which passed last year and was ultimately upheld by the state’s supreme court.
After conducting similar public records searches in Maine, Karger told the commission he believes NOM and Stand for Marriage Maine are deliberately violating state campaign finance disclosure requirements.
Two Democrats and one Republican on the commission agreed, voting for an investigation. One Republican and one unaffiliated member, Chairman Michael Freidman of Bangor, voted against.
“I’m very pleased,” said Karger in a phone interview following the vote. “The commission showed great courage today in agreeing to going ahead and launching an investigation.”
Scott Fish, a Stand for Marriage Maine spokesman, declined to answer any specific questions concerning the commission’s vote, and referred to a statement issued by the organization following the hearing. The statement, attributed to Stand for Marriage Maine chairman Marc Mutty, says the group is in compliance with state law and called the investigation an “abuse of power.”
Click here to follow The Advocate on Twitter.
Page 1 of 3