Prop*50

Trial on CO's pay-per-signature ban underway

A long-awaited trial is finally underway in Colorado. The law at issue was passed by the state legislature back in 2009. Among other provisions, HB 1326 prohibited paying petition circulators more than 20 percent of their total compensation on a per-signature basis. That's the most common way to pay petition circulators, although it is prohibited in six states besides Colorado. States have sought to restrict paying circulators based on how many signatures they gather because of the worry that such a system may encourage fraudulent behavior on the part of circulators. If more signatures equals more salary, then why not fudge a few? Opponents argue that the logic behind this is flawed, and that such bans make the cost of gathering signatures prohibitively high.

Colorado's pay-per-signature ban was enjoined by a federal judge back in June 2010, and the trial is just now getting underway. Testimony is scheduled to last for eight days over this week and next week, and an opinion would most likely come later in the summer or early fall.

The ban on paying on a per-signature basis is temporarily on hold, pending the outcome of the trial.

Read more in the Denver Post.

Initiative 1098 circulator charged with forgery

A 52 year-old woman who circulated petitions for I-1098, a Washington initiative that would impose a tax on incomes above $200,000 for single filers and $400,000 for joint filers, has been charged with forgery.  She was gathering signatures on behalf of the Service Employees International Union, which pays circulators a wage but does not pay on a per-signature basis.  Read more about the case from KOMO News.

ND pharmacy initiative in question

One of the two petitions submitted for signature verification in North Dakota may not make it to the ballot.  North Dakota's initiative laws require each petition to have 25 sponsors, and that those names be submitted with the petition.  The secretary of state has rejected a proposal to repeal the law requiring that pharmacists hold controlling ownership in pharmacies -- thereby preventing large retailers from opening pharmacies in the state -- because it lacked the required list of sponsors.  The sponsors have 20 days to remedy the problem, but Secretary of State Al Jaeger doesn't think this problem can be fixed.  State law requires that petitions be circulated in their entirety, and that includes the list of sponsors.  If the pharmacy petition was circulated without that list, then it's too late to fix the problem.

Complaints in Montana Over Signature-Gathering

The Montana secretary of state's office reports that nearly 50 complaints have been received regarding the manner in which initiative petitions were circulated.  While a few of the complaints were directed at petitions that did not qualify for the ballot, 85 percent of them had to do with two of the three initiatives that did qualify.

The nature of the complaints is familiar -- deception on the part of circulators about the nature of the proposal and non-state residents serving as circulators.  The sponsors of the two qualified measures that received complaints -- CI-106, which would prohibit any new taxes on real estate transactions, and I-161, which would ban outfitter-sponsored hunting in the state -- insist that their circulators were properly trained and followed all laws.

Secretary of State Linda McCulloch agreed earlier this year to receive complaints about signature-gathering tactics, even though she is powerless to do anything about violations.  In Montana, neither the secretary of state nor the Commissioner of Political Practices has the statutory authority to investigate or prosecute violations of the laws governing petitioning.  Violations must be pursued by the public through the civil courts.

In September 2006, three measures were removed from the Montana ballot after a judge found that circulators (all hired by the same firm) had broken the laws governing petition circulation.  The case was upheld by the state supreme court in October, and the three measures stayed off the ballot. 

Read more about this year's complaints in the Great Falls Tribune.

E-signatures in Utah

The Utah lieutenant governor (the state's chief election official) has issued an interim rule allowing initiative and referendum proponents to gather electronic signatures on their petitions.  The rule comes in the wake of a court case declaring that e-signatures on candidate petitions were valid.  While that case didn't directly address initiative petitions, the state has decided to try allowing e-signatures for initiatives too.

While e-signatures are now technically legal on initiative petitions in Utah, there are some significant restrictions on the process.  The rule requires that circulators still must meet all requirements for age and state residency, and require initiative sponsors to verify that.  It also requires that circulators personally witness e-signatures.  A 2004 opinion from the state's supreme court requires circulators to physically witness each signature on their petition.  The e-signature rule will stay in effect for 120 days.

Utah is the first state to permit electronic signatures on initiative and referendum petitions.

Read the interim rule.