The referendum petition in Wyoming sponsored by the Constitution Party does not have enough signatures to qualify. The state required 15% of the registered voters to sign the petition, and allowed less than three months. The Secretary of State’s office has now counted the signatures and determined that the petition lacks the required 37,606. The petition only has 21,991 signatures. The purpose of the referendum was to let voters vote on whether to approve a law passed this year that removes almost all power from the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Voters elect the Superintendent of Public Instruction, but the law removed the holder of that office from authority over the State Board of Education. Thanks to Kyle Roerink for this news.
The effort was not a complete waste of energy. The Constitution Party increased its visibility in Wyoming substantially by trying to qualify the referendum.
Well good for them that they made the effort. I hope it pays off for them in votes in the next election.
When talking to the Deputy Sec of State about the fact that the citizens of Wy haven’t been able to place an issue in the ballot in seventeen years, she responded by saying, “It looks like the people of WY are satisfied with their legislature.”
I would bet their are a few WY citizens that would disagree!
This was a valiant effort, but I knew that there was no way in hell that they were going to get this thing on the ballot without hiring paid petitioners.