cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Initiative: Backers Cry Foul 





Marijuana Initiative: Backers Cry Foul 
Posted by CN Staff on August 21, 2004 at 11:27:13 PT
By Adrienne Packer, Review-Journal 
Source: Las Vegas Review Journal 
Marijuana-regulation initiative supporters whose legal action recently required Clark County to manually verify petition signatures said Friday that election officials are treating them unfairly. Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana members say they have been denied their right to observe the verification process up close.
Since the process began Monday, committee members have been restricted to a cordoned-off area at the rear of two conference rooms where temporary employees and county workers are verifying signatures on the marijuana initiative petition. Some members of the committee scanned computer screens with a mounted video-camera, others used binoculars. Their purpose is to ensure verification is executed properly. Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, on Friday called the county's emergency verification process "chaotic and confusing." "The point is the public has a right to expect the people overseeing an election to do everything possible to inspire public trust in the process," Pecks said. "They are inviting more litigation." The marijuana committee and the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the county in July, claiming its petition process was unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge James Mahan agreed. Last week, he ruled unconstitutional the "13-counties rule." That rule stated in order to place an initiative on the ballot, the petition must include signatures from at least 10 percent of the number of voters who voted in the most recent general election in at least 13 of the state's 17 counties. To qualify for the ballot, petitioners needed 51,337 signatures. Because the "13-counties rule" is no longer in effect, county elections divisions must verify all signatures to determine if they reach the necessary amount. Clark County has until Aug. 30 to verify 120,000 signatures. The measures that could be placed on the ballot as a result of the verification process are the effort to legalize possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana; an initiative to repeal a state tax increase; and a petition that seeks to ban public workers from serving in the state Legislature. Clark County Deputy District Attorney Mary-Anne Miller said the county has only heard complaints about access from supporters of the marijuana initiative. The committee originally asked to station a member next to every election worker verifying signatures, said Larry Lomax, the county's registrar of voters. "That would just be ridiculous," Lomax said. "It's a public process and they have a right to watch us do it, not take part in it. They can't counter every decision all the way through. We'll never get finished with it." Lomax said the committee will be supplied with a print-out of every decision election employees make on signatures. "This will all go to court," Lomax said. "They will somehow portray that somehow we are doing something to prevent them from successfully passing this petition." Peck complained about the difference in verification center configurations. At the station in the elections office, which was used for the tax repeal petition, computers faced each other. Observers were allowed to circle the bank of computers, closely viewing each screen. In the county conference rooms, where the marijuana petition was verified, two lines of computers all face the front of the room. On Friday, committee members were given permission to walk alongside the rows in one room, where employees stations were broken into four sections. In a second room with less space, they were asked to remain in the back. "Here we are at the end of the week and it wasn't until we showed up at the scene that they relented," Peck said.Note: Petition supporters want a closer view of manual recount.Complete Title: Marijuana Initiative: Backers Cry Foul Over Verification ProcessSource: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)Author: Adrienne Packer, Review-Journal Published: Saturday, August 21, 2004Copyright: 2004 Las Vegas Review-JournalContact: letters reviewjournal.comWebsite: http://www.reviewjournal.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Regulate Marijuanahttp://www.regulatemarijuana.org/Federal Judge Throws Lifeline To Pot Initiativehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19332.shtmlJudge Keeps Legalized Pot Issue Alivehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19331.shtmlAG Wants Suit on Marijuana Initiative Dismissedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19312.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on August 21, 2004 at 11:41:05 PT
Related Article from The Associated Press
Backers of Nevada Initiatives Continue Ballot BattleAugust 21, 2004LAS VEGAS (AP) - Supporters of a marijuana initiative that got a court order requiring Clark County to manually verify petition signatures are claiming election officials are treating them unfairly. Members of the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana said Friday they have been denied their right to observe the verification process up close. Since the process began Monday, committee members have been restricted to a cordoned-off area at the rear of two conference rooms where temporary employees and county workers are verifying signatures on the petition, which would legalize up to one ounce of marijuana. Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, called the county's emergency verification process chaotic and confusing. "The point is the public has a right to expect the people overseeing an election to do everything possible to inspire public trust in the process," Pecks said. "They are inviting more litigation." The marijuana committee and the ACLU filed a lawsuit in July claiming the petition process was unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge James Mahan agreed, throwing out the so-called "13-counties rule" that requires signatures from at least 10 percent of the number of voters who voted in the most recent general election in at least 13 of the state's 17 counties. Because the "13-counties rule" is no longer valid, Clark County elections divisions must verify all signatures to determine if they reach that amount. The petition had failed to qualify in Clark County. Larry Lomax, the county's registrar of voters, said the marijuana committee had originally asked to station a member next to every election worker verifying signatures. "That would just be ridiculous," Lomax said. "It's a public process and they have a right to watch us do it, not take part in it. They can't counter every decision all the way through. We'll never get finished with it." He said the committee will be supplied with a printout of every decision election employees make on the signatures. Also Friday, state Assemblywoman Sharron Angle said she plans to file an appeal with the state Supreme Court to place her petition limiting property tax increases on the November ballot. Although her petition fell 5,706 signatures short of the required 51,337, Angle said the court should order it on the ballot because the arrest of a petitioner affected their ability to gather signatures. Angle, R-Reno, said most of her petition circulators quit following the May 18 arrest of Tony Dane on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus. Dane had led petition circulating efforts in southern Nevada. "We were on pace to have 82,000 signatures," she said. "If we had been left alone, we would have met the requirements of the state. The damage done was irreparable." Her proposal, styled after California's Proposition 13, would freeze the tax rate for residential and commercial property at 1 percent of the assessed value based on the 2001-02 fiscal year. Tax rates could increase each year by 2 percent, or the rate of the consumer price index, whichever is lower. Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal: http://www.lvrj.com Copyright: 2004 Associated Press
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