On April 15, a U.S. District Court blocked Utah elections officials from releasing the names and addresses of people who signed an initiative petition, for ten days, which will give more time for both sides to prepare further arguments. See this story
On April 15, a U.S. District Court heard arguments in Utahns for Ethical Government v Barton. See this story.
The case was filed by the group that is submitting a petition on April 15 to get an initiative on the ballot. The group is afraid that if the names and addresses are made public, opponents of the initiative will contact the signers and ask them to retract their signatures. A new Utah law lets signers retract their names, up to several weeks after the petition is due. Attorneys for the state government apparently argue that the plaintiffs don’t have standing, so the judge apparently will hold a second hearing late in the day on standing. In the parallel case from Washington state, the lead plaintiff was “John Doe”, a signer who doesn’t want his name and address made public. Perhaps the Utah group didn’t realize that to guarantee there is no standing problem, that it should have an actual signer as a co-plaintiff.
On April 15, a U.S. District Court heard arguments in Utahns for Ethical Government v Barton. See this story.
The case was filed by the group that is submitting a petition on April 15 to get an initiative on the ballot. The group is afraid that if the names and addresses are made public, opponents of the initiative will contact the signers and ask them to retract their signatures. A new Utah law lets signers retract their names, up to several weeks after the petition is due. Attorneys for the state government apparently argue that the plaintiffs don’t have standing, so the judge apparently will hold a second hearing late in the day on standing. In the parallel case from Washington state, the lead plaintiff was “John Doe”, a signer who doesn’t want his name and address made public. Perhaps the Utah group didn’t realize that to guarantee there is no standing problem, that it should have an actual signer as a co-plaintiff.
Louisiana Political Science Professor Jeffrey Sadow has this article posted at Bayou Buzz, a blog of Louisiana politics. Professor Sadow says when the Louisiana House recently voted for HB 292, it was because most members believed that “19 or 20” other states use the same system. They believed that, because that is what the author of the bill said on the debate on the bill. But, that is misinformation, as the post explains.
The Escondido Democratic Club hosted a discussion of California’s Proposition 14 at its April 10 monthly meeting. The Club’s web page has a You Tube of parts of the discussion, which can be seen at this link.
Former State Senator Steve Peace, a leader in the fight to get Proposition 14 on the ballot, spoke for fifteen minutes in favor. Then Richard Winger spoke for fifteen minutes against. Then both speakers took questions from the audience.
Here is a video with an excerpt of Richard:
