RULING SOUNDS PETITIONS' DEATH KNELL

CARSON CITY -- A court decision Wednesday probably ends the chances of
groups trying to place petitions legalizing marijuana and throwing out
the $833 million tax increase on the Nov. 2 ballot, their leaders said.

"It looks like this legal decision has shut us out," said Jennifer
Knight, communications director of the Committee to Regulate and
Control Marijuana.

"Without those signatures, I think it is over," said tax opponent
George Harris, chairman of Nevadans for Sound Government. "We are done."

They made the comments after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
rejected an appeal by the marijuana committee to count signatures on
its petition that were rejected by the secretary of state's office.

The committee wanted voters to pass a constitutional amendment that
would legalize an ounce or less of marijuana for adults. Their
proposal, which needed voter approval in November and in 2006, also
would have provided for harsher penalties for vehicular manslaughter
and delivery of marijuana to minors.

Knight had counted on 2,039 additional signatures to put her petition
over the 51,337 minimum to qualify for a spot on the ballot.

Even with additional signatures, Harris' referendum would have been
1,601 signatures short of qualifying, according to the secretary of
state's office.

Harris did not join in the appeal, but hoped a favorable ruling meant
his rejected signatures would be counted.

Knight said her organization's office in Las Vegas will remain open
for the next two days while it's determined whether other legal
options exist. She said they might ask the court to rehear the case
with more judges participating in the decision. Only three were
involved in the Wednesday ruling.

"These people signed the petition with full faith they would be
counted. The fact they weren't counted is a travesty of democracy,"
Knight said.

"All it does is disenfranchise people," added Gary Peck, executive
director of the American Civil Liberties Union, whose organization
joined in the appeal.

The marijuana committee had appealed District Judge James Mahan's
decision that barred election registrars from counting signatures of
some newly registered voters.

Only registered voters can sign petitions. Some people registered to
vote and then signed the petition. But their voter registration
applications were not mailed or given to election workers for
processing until later.

Therefore, it appeared they signed the petition before they became
registered voters.

Mahan said state law stipulates that registrars should only count
signatures of newly registered voters whose applications were turned
in the day they signed petitions, or postmarked on the day they signed
petitions.

In a 2-1 decision, Appeals Court Judges Thomas Nelson and Andrew
Kleinfield held that law does not restrict free speech.

"What it restricts is the power of persons not registered to vote to
change the laws passed by the voters' duly registered
representatives," they said.

They noted in some instances voter registration applications might
"never be mailed or delivered."

In a dissent, Judge Harry Pregerson said the law prevents people from
signing petitions if they registered to vote in the evenings, on
holidays and on weekends.

He noted that in three of Nevada's 17 counties signatures are counted
regardless of when voter registration applications are postmarked or
delivered.

Peck said the problem could have been avoided if there had not been
"an utter lack of leadership and consistency" by the secretary of
state's office.

But Deputy Secretary of State Renee Parker said the ACLU and Knight
are blaming them for problems they caused themselves.

She said the marijuana petition probably would have been on the ballot
if the committee had not misplaced boxes holding 6,000 signatures.

"That was the reason they failed," she said "They had a responsibility
to turn in signatures on time and not to lose petitions."

In making the ruling, the appeals court did not consider two other
decisions made by Mahan.

He also threw out a requirement that petition circulators in Nevada
secure signatures in 13 of the state's 17 counties equivalent to 10
percent of the voters in the last general election.

Mahan also tossed out the law that petition circulators must secure an
affidavit from one of signers of their petitions. In the affidavit,
the signer must swear other signatures are genuine and come from
registered voters.