Wednesday, September 2, 2009

The Legal challenge to R- 71 was rejected, but...


So the challenge to block R-71 from the ballot was rejected, however it still may have a shot.

King County Superior Court Judge Julie Spector said that Washington Families Standing Together had selected the wrong venue to litigate in and it's too early for the battle. But here is the interesting parts...
However, the Court's ruling also recognized the legitimacy of Washington Families Standing Together's charges against Secretary of State Sam Reed. The allegations in the lawsuit are now findings of fact. Remember, WFST's suit rests on the improper acceptance, by the Secretary of State, of two types of signatures on Referendum 71 petitions:
  • Signatures of voters who were not registered to vote at the time that they signed a Referendum 71 petition
  • Signatures on petitions whose circulator did not identify him or herself, and/or did not sign the declaration required by state law
The Court basically agreed with WFST on both of these points. First:
The Secretary of State concedes that he instructed his staff to accept signatures of voters who were not registered when they signed the petition. The court notes the plain language of the Washington State Constitution and the Revised Code of Washington requires voters to be registered before signing. While it may be common practice for individuals to register simultaneously with signing referendum petitions, and it may even be good policy, that does not mean that the practice is in accordance with Washington law. No Washington court has ever considered this issue, but state supreme courts in other jurisdictions have decided resoundingly against the Secretary of State's position.
And second:
Protect Marriage Washington/Intervenor also admits that their members stamped the declarations on thousands of petitions with Mr. Stickney's signature before filing the referendum petitions with the Secretary of State. Likewise, the Secretary of State concedes he has accepted more than 35,000 signatures where the signature-gatherer's declaration was either left blank or stamped en masse with Mr. Stickney's signature. In making this determination, the Secretary of State has relied on an opinion by the Attorney General issued in 2006. That opinion states that RCW 29A.72.130 requires not that the signature-gatherer actually sign the declaration, but only that the declaration be printed on the back of each petition... Based on the statute's plain language and the legislative history, this essentially renders the declaration requirement meaningless.
Go here for more, but it seems there's still hope? We will see.

No comments:

The Stuff

My photo
Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.