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Maine Legislature




The House of Representatives consists of one-hundred and fifty-one members, each chosen from a single-member district, plus two nonvoting Representatives of the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribes. The Senate includes a varying number of members, which may under the Constitution be thirty-one, thirty-three, or thirty-five; the present number is thirty-five.

In order to be a member of the Legislature one must be no less than twenty-one years old, have been for five years a citizen of the United States, have been a resident of the State for one year, and for the 3 months next preceding the time of this person's election shall have been, and, during the period for which elected, continue to be, a resident in the district represented.

Legislative elections are held in November of every even-numbered year, during the state's General Election . The terms for both houses are two years. Since 1996, state legislators have been limited to four two-year terms; this is a consecutive, rather than lifetime, limit.

The House is headed by the Speaker, while the Senate is headed by the President.

The Legislature has the power to make laws, subject to a veto by the Governor. The Legislature, however, by a vote of two-thirds in each house, may override the veto. The Legislature also has the power to propose constitutional amendments by a vote of two-thirds in each house; the proposal must be approved by a majority of voters in a referendum in order to be passed.


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