• The state of Maine holds biennial municipal caucuses and Title 21 of the Election Code provides the rules to govern them.Maine state contour with Capital City against blurred USA flag image by Stasys Eidiejus from Fotolia.com
  
  In the state of Maine, Title 21 of the Election Code requires political parties to hold municipal caucuses every two years to elect delegates to their respective state conventions and to elect political party officeholders at the municipal level. Some caucus rules are determined by the state of Maine, while the major political parties provide rules for how each caucus in Maine is governed.
  
  

Eligibility

• You must be a United States citizen and a registered voter in Maine to participate in a municipal caucus, and must have residency in the municipality in which you are registered to vote. All caucus participants must be at least 18 years old; an exception is made for 17-year-olds who will be 18 on or before the date of the general election. Maine election rules dictate that participants in a caucus must be registered party members in their municipal district.
  
  

Deadlines

• Municipal caucuses in Maine must take place before March 20 during the year of a general election. Rules require the secretaries of each municipality's political parties to publish a public notice from three to seven days prior to a caucus. The notice must be placed in a newspaper and at each voting district in a municipality. If these deadlines are not adhered to, the caucus vote will be voided if any voter challenges arise due to the notices not being published properly.
  
  

Voting Rules

• Maine caucus rules as established by Maine election law require voting to be conducted by list or secret ballot. The person in each party who calls the municipal caucus may request a list of caucus voters from the registrar if he wishes to conduct caucus votes by list. However, if the political party rules state that votes must be done by ballot, as the Maine Republican rules state, municipal caucuses must comply.
  
  

Committee Governance

• Political committees operating in municipalities in Maine may decide among themselves how elections for officers will be held, as well as the length of term and job descriptions. Committee members are responsible for posting notices of municipal caucuses, and are assigned other political responsibilities as determined by their respective political parties. Both Democrats and Republicans in Maine leave the decision of nominating and electing officeholders within each municipality to each individual committee.