Mendros (R-ratbag) at center of marijuana ballot question controversy (Maine)

[jpak]

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/oxford-hills/2016/03/04/mendros-center-marijuana-ballot-question-controversy/1883935

LEWISTON — Stavros Mendros, a former state lawmaker and city councilor who has been in the hot seat for questionable signature-gathering campaigns in the past is again at the center of a controversy over a ballot question drive.

David Boyer, the director of a citizen petition campaign that's hoping to ask Maine voters to legalize marijuana for recreational use in November, said Friday his group will take its case to court following a decision by the Maine Secretary of State's Office that determined it could not validate some 5,000 petitions, and about 17,000 voter signatures, that had been notarized by Mendros.

In 2007, Mendros pleaded guilty to three counts of not being in the presence of those to whom he administered oaths in a case that involved a ballot campaign for a casino in Washington County. He was fined $1,000 for one of the counts and $500 apiece for two others. One count was dismissed.

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Boyer said he would swear under oath that he witnessed Mendros notarize petitions, and he questioned why all of the petitions notarized by Mendros were invalidated.

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