News

Marijuana Petition Signature Count Back on After Ruling

Saturday, August 14, 2004

by Ken Ritter, Associated Press
Reno Gazette-Journal

LAS VEGAS -- A federal judge breathed new life into an initiative to legalize up to one ounce of marijuana on Friday and declared two Nevada petition requirements that left the measure short of qualifying for the ballot were unconstitutional.

However, U.S. District Judge James Mahan refused to order Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller to put the marijuana measure on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Instead, Mahan said, verification of the 66,000 names submitted on petitions statewide would determine if supporters reached the required 51,337 valid signatures.

"If you've got the signatures, then it's on the ballot," Mahan told lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana, the Marijuana Policy Project.

A previous count using sampling techniques certified 50,088 signatures statewide -- just 1,024 short of the requirement.

County election officials have until Aug. 31 to verify signatures, said Victoria Thimmesch Oldenburg, the senior deputy state attorney general who argued the case to keep the initiative off the ballot.

Matthew Brinckerhoff, a New York lawyer representing the two marijuana advocacy groups, said there was "a decent likelihood" of qualifying the initiative to let Nevada adults possess and use one ounce of marijuana.

Nevada voters have approved the use of marijuana for medical reasons, but in 2002 overwhelmingly rejected a measure to legalize up to 3 ounces of marijuana.

Because the latest measure would amend the Nevada Constitution, voters would have to approve it in November and again in 2006 before it could take effect.

In his ruling, Mahan invalidated Nevada's so-called "13 counties rule" as a violation of the federal Constitution's "equal protection" clause ensuring one-person, one-vote.

The rule required initiative supporters to collect signatures from at least 10 percent of the number of voters who cast ballots in the most recent general election in at least 13 of the state's 17 counties.

Saying he wanted to ensure voters were not disenfranchised, Mahan said the 13-of-17 counties rule gave more weight to rural counties than populous areas.

He also declared the state's "dual affidavit" requirement was unconstitutional. It called for a registered Nevada voter to sign each petition and a separate document attesting to the validity of each name on the petition.

Mahan said one affirmation was enough, even if non-Nevada residents or nonvoters collect the signatures.

Arguments on the dual affidavit requirement also are scheduled Aug. 31 before the Nevada Supreme Court.

Mahan rejected a challenge of the state's refusal to count petition signatures of those registering to vote at the same time or after signing petitions.

"The state is entitled to set reasonable (election) regulations," Mahan said.

Brinckerhoff said he intends to appeal that element of Mahan's ruling to the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Larry Lomax, Clark County registrar of voters, said after the hearing that rural counties would be hard pressed to check the validity of signatures, and the pressure will be excruciating in Las Vegas.

While preparing for the primary and general elections, Lomax said he has had to hire 16 temporary workers to meet Heller's end-of-the-month deadline to verify tens of thousands of signatures on an "Ax the Tax" initiative. That measure would repeal last year's record $833 million state tax increase.

That effort began when a judge gave Nevadans for Sound Government extra time to collect signatures after some of the initiative sponsor's signature-gatherers testified they had been harassed and arrested outside government buildings.

Officials said Mahan's Friday ruling also gives new life to an unrelated measure seeking to ban public employees from serving in the Legislature. It was disqualified based on the 13-of-17 county requirement.

"I just got told to verify 81,000 more signatures," Lomax said.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, news clippings are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.

Local Activism

A hotbed of cannabis activism, Washington State is home to many organizations working to bring about rational drug policy. Here are some things to get involved with:

Cannabis Defense Coalition has been very active lately. They focus on courtroom observation and medical marijuana activism.

The ACLU-WA Drug Policy Project created the Marijuana: It's Time for a Conversation campaign, among other things.

Initiative 75, passed in 2003, deprioritized marijuana law enforcement in Seattle. A final report (2mb pdf) on the law was produced by the city.

The November Coalition, based in Colville, is a national reform group and works with prisoners and families.

SpoCannabis is a medical marijuana activist group in Spokane.

King Co. Bar Association Drug Policy Project has done amazing work educating the "suits" about the failure of our prohibition model of drug policy, and the need for a regulatory model of drug policy.

Seattle Hempfest is the third weekend in August on Seattle's waterfront.

Olympia Hempfest is a week after Seattle's big bash.