BACKERS OF POT PETITION FILE SUIT

Judge Asked To Put Issue Back On The Ballot

A group of advocates and the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada
sued the secretary of state Tuesday, saying the state illegally
dismissed signatures on a petition that would allow adults to have an
ounce of marijuana.

The lawsuit says the state dismissed the signatures, which made the
petition fail, "based on a raft of unreasonable, purposeless and
unconstitutional restrictions," and asks a federal judge to order
Secretary of State Dean Heller to put the petition on the fall ballot.

The initiative petition had more than 66,000 signatures to put it on
the November ballot. But the suit charges that Heller
unconstitutionally struck down more than 17,000 of those signatures.

"Basically, we're challenging the way the Nevada system works in
getting initiatives on the ballot in three areas," said attorney
Matthew Brinckerhoff.

The suit is accompanied by an emergency motion asking a federal judge
to order Heller to place the initiative on the November general
election ballot.

"Plaintiffs have been shut out of this democratic process," the motion
states.

Heller, Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax and Washoe County
Registrar of Voters Dan Burk are named as defendants in the case.

The ACLU does support the legalization of small amounts of marijuana,
but the main reason the group is getting involved in the lawsuit is to
"make sure that the rights of the voting public are properly respected
and no one is unlawfully disenfranchised," state ACLU Executive
Director Gary Peck said.

Joining the ACLU as plaintiffs in the suit are the Marijuana Policy
Project, a national group dedicated to removing criminal penalties for
marijuana use and making medical marijuana available, and the
project's local arm, the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana.

The Marijuana Policy Project has bankrolled much of the effort to get
a marijuana initiative on the ballot, as well as television ads that
continue to run in the state promoting regulation of marijuana.

"The bottom line for us is it appears that many thousands of
registered voters who signed in good faith are being effectively
disenfranchised," Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Bruce Mirken
said. "We don't think that's OK."

The lawsuit challenges a requirement in the state constitution that
signatures must be gathered from 10 percent of the number of people
who voted in the last election in 13 of the state's 17 counties. Right
now the marijuana petition has qualified in 12 counties.

The rule is designed so that large counties, such as Clark County,
could not pass initiatives without some support from throughout the
state.

But Brinckerhoff argues that the rule gives more weight to signatures
from rural counties than from Clark County.

Clark County had 313,605 voters in the last election, meaning that the
petition would need 31,360 of those voters signatures to qualify in
Clark County.

In contrast Esmeralda County had only 454 voters in the last election,
meaning only 45 signatures are needed to qualify there.

By giving more weight to signatures from smaller counties, "the 13
counties rule violates the one person one vote principle," the suit
states.

Brinckerhoff cites a recent ruling in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals that struck down a law in Idaho requiring that signatures be
gathered from six percent of the qualified voters in at least half of
the state's counties.

"Because Idaho's counties vary widely in population, this geographic
distribution requirement favors residents of sparsely populated areas
over residents of more densely populated areas in their respective
efforts to participate in the process of qualifying initiatives for
the ballot," the court said when it struck down the law.

The lawsuit also challenges a requirement that one of the people who
signed each petition also sign an affidavit stating that the other
people on the petition are registered voters.

About 15,141 signatures on the marijuana petition were initially
thrown out because they did not have the proper affidavit.

The suit calls the document signer rule a relic that "reflects a
cynical attempt to stifle dissent and suppress the will of the people
of the State of Nevada."

The lawsuit also targets the exclusion of signatures from people who
registered to vote on the same day they signed the petition. This
includes 2,039 signatures on the marijuana petition.

Petition organizers were told they could register people on the spot
when they collected their signatures, said Jennifer Knight, a
spokeswoman for the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana.

Once the group gathered voter registration cards it would turn them
in, Knight said.

But Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said his office has
to receive voter registration forms on the day the person signs the
petition.

They also can be postmarked on that day, he said.

"If they did register on the same day and turn the form in to us, then
we would count them," he said.

Lomax said he is concerned that groups that have not made the ballot
have established a precedent to file a lawsuit and delay the process.

Already judges have ruled on at least two lawsuits and several motions
to intervene on the suits.

"It's getting ridiculous," Lomax said. "Every petition that gets
turned in now, if it fails, they take us to court. Sooner or later,
it's going to cause some serious problems in these elections."

Lomax said he must have ballot language for the initiatives, as well
as arguments for and against them in English and Spanish, prepared by
Sept. 7 in order to put out a voter registration guide.