On January 10, the Libertarian Party of Los Angeles County filed this 19-page brief in the party’s lawsuit against a California law that says no one may circulate a petition in lieu of filing fee outside of his or her own county and also may not circulate outside of his or her own district. The case is pending in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

The brief emphasizes that even though the Secretary of State’s attorneys say the residency requirement is not enforced, the Secretary of State’s web page implies that it is. Each time another special election is called (and two have been called in the last few weeks), the Secretary of State’s web page for that particular upcoming special election restates the relevant election laws, and always includes the residency requirement for circulators. At the same time these web page entries also mention the one-year duration of residency requirement for candidates. But these web page entries always say in a footnote that the residency requirement for candidates is not enforced. Because there is no footnote saying the residency requirement for circulators is not enforced, a reasonable person would assume that the requirement for circulators (as opposed to requirement for candidates) is enforced.

On January 7, a New York State Supreme Court ruled in favor of proponents of a local initiative, in Saratoga Citizens, Inc. v Franck, 03368/2010, Saratoga County. One of the issues was the requirement that petition sheets be fastened together. The proponents testified that when they had submitted the petition sheets, the sheets were fastened together with a binder clip (a spring-loaded clip). The City Clerk testified that the sheets had not been fastened together, but that he had put the binder clip on the sheets. The court ruled that (a) even if the sheets had not been fastened together, the proponents were entitled to “cure” that defect; (b) in any event, even if it were true that it was the City Clerk, and not the proponents, who had fastened the sheets together, the City Clerk’s action itself meant that the sheets were fastened together and that requirement was satisfied.

New York state generally doesn’t have the initiative process, but the local initiative process does exist for citizens who want to revise a charter. This initiative was to change the city of Saratoga Springs from a commission form of government to a city manager form of government. See this story. These local initiatives need the signatures of 10% of the registered voters, initially. After the submission of the 10% petition, the city or county may or may not place the measure on the ballot. If the city or county refuses, proponents are free to then submit a second petition signed by another 5% of the voters, and then the issue must be put on the ballot.