On March 19, the Ninth Circuit determined that it will hear Raymond v Fenumiai, 13-35090. The Ninth Circuit determined the case is not appropriate for mediation. The issue is Alaska’s ban on out-of-state circulators for initiative petitions. The U.S. District Court, on February 8, 2013, had held that the plaintiff, Robert Raymond, lacks standing. He is a professional petitioner who complained that he would work in Alaska, except that because he is not a resident of Alaska, he can’t. The U.S. District Court said because he didn’t specify any particular initiative that he wants to work on, his complaint is too vague to be viable. Alaska says it will enforce the requirement, but the only penalty is that any signatures he collects will be invalid. Raymond will argue in the 9th circuit that he does have standing.
Cases challenging residency requirements for circulators are pending in Alaska, California, and Virginia. A potential lawsuit in Maine has probably been averted. Portland, Maine, won’t let non-residents circulate, but various Maine Greens, some of whom don’t live in Portland, desire to circulate a city initiative petition. It seems likely that the city will soon repeal the circulator residency requirement.