AUGUSTA — Maine’s secretary of state says a group hoping to strengthen the state’s clean public-financing elections law has submitted enough signatures to put its proposal to voters.

Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap says that of the about 80,000 of the nearly 86,000 signatures that were submitted by Maine Citizens for Clean Elections were found to be valid. That’s about 18,000 more valid signatures than the group needed.

Its proposal aims to provide Clean Election candidates with access to more cash on the campaign trail so they can better compete with their privately financed opponents.

Maine voters get 10 days to challenge the secretary of state’s findings. Lawmakers will then have the chance to approve the proposal. If they don’t, the measure will be put on the November 2015 ballot.

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