AUGUSTA – Concerned that a scandal like the one in Illinois over governor-appointed U.S. senators could someday occur in Maine, a state lawmaker is proposing a change in the way senators are replaced.

“I believe it should be a citizen election, an open process,” said Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham. “I don’t see how a governor sitting down at his or her back room with some people saying, ‘Who do we want to appoint and what’s our motivation?’ would trump a public election.”

Diamond’s bill would require a special election to be held within 60 days of a vacancy. Under current law, the governor appoints someone to serve until a successor is elected.

In Illinois, former governor Rod Blagojevich was impeached in January after it was revealed he was attempting to auction off President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat to the highest bidder.

On Friday, the man Blagojevich appointed to the seat, Roland Burris, was asked to resign by Illinois officials because of revelations that he attempted to raise money for Blagojevich and failed to disclose multiple conversations with his advisers.

Though Blagojevich made national headlines for corrupting the appointment process, Diamond acknowledged that Maine has a good track record with the law as it is.

In 1980, Maine Gov. Joe Brendan appointed George Mitchell to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Ed Muskie, who resigned to become U.S. secretary of state.

Mitchell went on to win statewide elections in 1982 and 1988, to serve as U.S. Senate majority leader, to turn down an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court and to preside over the Northern Ireland peace process. He now is serving in the Obama administration as special envoy to the Middle East.

Matthew Dunlap, Maine’s secretary of state, said holding an election within 60 days of a Senate vacancy would be a challenge.

“We try to have ballots available 45 days prior to Election Day … to accommodate absentee voters,” he said.

For a statewide election, printing ballots would take at least 10 days, Dunlap said.

U.S. senators used to be elected by state legislatures, not in general elections, until the 17th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed in 1913. The amendment called for direct elections and allowed states to grant their governor the right to appoint senators in the event of an opening.

The Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee will hold a public hearing on Diamond’s bill on March 4.

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