These are some variations on the 1901 Maine state flag design, along with the current version featuring the state seal. The Department of the Secretary of State has received more than 400 submissions based on the pine-tree-and-star theme.

The Secretary of State’s office on Tuesday determined by public lottery the order of five ballot questions that will go before Maine voters in November, including a highly watched referendum about replacing the state flag.

Question 1 asks voters if they want to set a limit of $5,000 for contributions to political action committees. PACs are set up independently of candidates but have been used to spend large amounts of money to support or defeat candidates in various races because they aren’t subject to the same limits.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, left, reaches into fish bowl held by Deputy Secretary of State Julie Flynn and picks the order of items for the November 2023 Referendum Election ballot during an event July 2023 in her Augusta office. As it happened in 2023, Bellows again picked the order of items for the Novermber 2024 Referendum Election ballot on Tuesday. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal, file

The proposal was brought forward by a group of campaign finance reform activists led by Lawrence Lessig, a prominent legal scholar from Massachusetts and a long-shot Democratic presidential candidate in 2016. Lessig has said he and others chose Maine as the test case because of polls showing an overwhelming majority of residents here support limiting the influence of PACs.

If Maine voters approve the measure, it almost certainly will be challenged in court and perhaps even make it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which last ruled on a major campaign finance case more than a decade ago. In a 5-4 vote, a majority of justices ruled in the Citizens United case that freedom of speech under the First Amendment prohibits the government from placing any restrictions on independent expenditures.

Questions 2-4 are bonds, which ask voters to support borrowing for specific state investments.

Question 2 involves $25 million to support research and development and commercialization in the following areas: life sciences and biomedical technology; environmental and renewable energy technology; information technology; advanced technologies for forestry and agriculture; aquaculture and marine technology; composites and advanced materials; and precision manufacturing.

Question 3 involves $10 million to restore historical buildings owned by governmental and nonprofit organizations across the state. The grants would be awarded contingent on a 25% local match.

Question 4 asks for $30 million in borrowing to invest in the design, development and maintenance for non-motorized, motorized and multiuse trails statewide. It would be matched by at least $3 million in private and public contributions.

Question 5 asks whether voters favor making the former state flag, replaced as the official flag of the state in 1909 and commonly known as the Pine Tree Flag, the official flag of the state.

That question may be the most-watched. Lawmakers last year approved legislation calling for a referendum on a new flag that would be based on the original state flag used in the early 1900s. The law establishes the design concept, stating that the flag must include a buff background, a pine tree in the center and a blue five-point star in the upper corner.

The Department of the Secretary of State received more than 400 submissions in a design contest this month. The submissions haven’t been made public and the office said it would take time to compile, process and review them. A decision on the design is expected to be announced in August.