A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Friday that bars the Colorado secretary of state from enforcing rules that would have prohibited petition circulators for ballot initiatives from being paid by the signature.
A recent state law had banned pay-per-signature initiatives because legislators believe the practice invites fraud.
But citizen-initiative groups, including the pro-marijuana group SAFER and the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank, sued the secretary of state in challenging the rules. The groups asked U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer for a preliminary injunction barring the rules until the end of trial.
"The Court recognizes that the State has legitimate and strong interests in protecting the integrity of its electoral system and that preventing fraud and invalidity in the signature gathering process serves that interest," Brimmer wrote in his opinion. "However, because there is no evidence that restricting per-signature compensation of petition circulators prevents fraud or reduces invalidity rates, the State has failed to demonstrate that its interests make it necessary to burden the plaintiff's rights in the way that (the legislation) has."
Rich Coolidge, spokesman for Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher, said the office's legal team is reviewing Brimmer's opinion and has not decided whether to file an appeal.
Independence Institute president Jon Caldara said he was thrilled.
"Occasionally the system does work, and I wish the legislature would stop beating up the initiative process," he said. "The initiative process gave us term limits, TABOR and the sunshine laws that we have had here in Colorado. And elected officials don't like those. Maybe they ought to respect voters instead of stifling voters."
He said the injunction would help the health care choice initiative challenging the health care reform law to go forward in Colorado.
Mason Tvert of SAFER said the decision is a win for grass-roots organizations.
"Well, it certainly means the initiative process will be fairer," he said. "Whether it's this year or 2012, we look forward to seeing another initiative on the ballot that would end our senseless marijuana laws."
Caldara and Tvert had argued that they cannot afford to circulate the petitions to acquire the necessary signatures because of the added costs imposed by the law.
"Therefore, there is a likelihood that they will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a preliminary injunction," Brimmer wrote. "The Court finds that the State has met its burden in identifying a compelling state interest in the avoidance of fraud and invalid signatures. Where the State fails in this analysis, however, is in proving how these interests make it necessary to burden the plaintiffs' ability to gather signatures."
A trial date had not been set as of Friday.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: The Denver Post
Author: Felisa Cardona
Contact: The Denver Post
Copyright: 2010 The Denver Post
Website: Judge temporarily bars limits on paying petition circulators to gather signatures
A recent state law had banned pay-per-signature initiatives because legislators believe the practice invites fraud.
But citizen-initiative groups, including the pro-marijuana group SAFER and the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank, sued the secretary of state in challenging the rules. The groups asked U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer for a preliminary injunction barring the rules until the end of trial.
"The Court recognizes that the State has legitimate and strong interests in protecting the integrity of its electoral system and that preventing fraud and invalidity in the signature gathering process serves that interest," Brimmer wrote in his opinion. "However, because there is no evidence that restricting per-signature compensation of petition circulators prevents fraud or reduces invalidity rates, the State has failed to demonstrate that its interests make it necessary to burden the plaintiff's rights in the way that (the legislation) has."
Rich Coolidge, spokesman for Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher, said the office's legal team is reviewing Brimmer's opinion and has not decided whether to file an appeal.
Independence Institute president Jon Caldara said he was thrilled.
"Occasionally the system does work, and I wish the legislature would stop beating up the initiative process," he said. "The initiative process gave us term limits, TABOR and the sunshine laws that we have had here in Colorado. And elected officials don't like those. Maybe they ought to respect voters instead of stifling voters."
He said the injunction would help the health care choice initiative challenging the health care reform law to go forward in Colorado.
Mason Tvert of SAFER said the decision is a win for grass-roots organizations.
"Well, it certainly means the initiative process will be fairer," he said. "Whether it's this year or 2012, we look forward to seeing another initiative on the ballot that would end our senseless marijuana laws."
Caldara and Tvert had argued that they cannot afford to circulate the petitions to acquire the necessary signatures because of the added costs imposed by the law.
"Therefore, there is a likelihood that they will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a preliminary injunction," Brimmer wrote. "The Court finds that the State has met its burden in identifying a compelling state interest in the avoidance of fraud and invalid signatures. Where the State fails in this analysis, however, is in proving how these interests make it necessary to burden the plaintiffs' ability to gather signatures."
A trial date had not been set as of Friday.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: The Denver Post
Author: Felisa Cardona
Contact: The Denver Post
Copyright: 2010 The Denver Post
Website: Judge temporarily bars limits on paying petition circulators to gather signatures
