On June 11, U.S. District Court Judge Philip A. Brimmer, a Bush Jr. appointee, issued an injunction against a Colorado law that virtually bans paying circulators on a per signature basis.  The Independence Institute v Buescher, 10-cv-00609.  The case had been filed on March 15, 2010.

The injunction was issued after a trial, at which a great deal of evidence was presented.  A key witness was Professor Daniel Smith of the University of Florida, an expert on ballot questions who has examined actual petitions looking for evidence of forged signatures, and has conducted other types of research on petitioning as well.  He testified, “I honestly don’t think that the pay per signature model necessarily induces fraud.”   Also, the state’s expert witness, Ted Blaszak, testified that fraud is seldom committed by professional petitioners.  The evidence also showed that a ban on paying per signatures increases the cost of getting a measure or a candidate on the ballot, and also that many of the best circulators will not work unless they are paid on a per signature basis.  The injunction is 39 pages and distinguishes the precedents that have upheld a ban on paying per signature, by finding that in those cases, there was little or no evidence presented.  Thanks to Paul Jacob for this news.