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Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller rejected a challenge Aug. 15, 2008, to Nevada's Prop 13 initiative from the Nevada State Education Association, certifying the measure for the November ballot in Nevada. The NSEA filed the challenge to the petitions Aug. 8th, holding up certification even though election officials in all 17 counties reported on Aug. 11, 2008, that the petition had 64,116 valid signatures. Read more...

A Cape Girardeau businessman and a Jackson County lawmaker filed a lawsuit Aug. 14, 2008, to keep the Missouri Schools First Initiative off the November ballot. A second lawsuit against the measure that would cap the number of casinos in Missouri, was filed on behalf of two St. Louis-area residents and is backed by Casino Watch, a group that has consistently opposed the expansion of gambling in Missouri.

An attorney for the Yes for Schools First Coalition said he believes Proposition A will survive any legal challenge and appear on the fall ballot. Southeast Missourian

Two campaign workers for Illinois State Sen. Terry Link (D-Waukegan) were indicted Aug. 13, 2008, on forgery and perjury charges for allegedly placing phony signatures on the senator's nominating petitions for his current re-election campaign. The petitions allegedly included names of deceased voters.

State's Attorney Michael Waller, a Republican, requested the appointment of a special state prosecutor to handle the case to avoid the appearance of bias against Democratic campaign workers. Link is chairman of the Lake County Democratic Party and is being challenged for his Senate seat in the November general election by Republican businessman Keith Gray. Chicago Tribune

North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger has announced that the Captive Hunting Petition, one of four citizen initiatives that submitted signatures for the November ballot, has fallen short. In North Dakota, a page showing the sponsoring committee’s names must be attached to or part of the petition. On seven petition sheets including 164 signatures, that wasn't the case. Captive hunting ban fails to get on ballot

Supporters of nine initiatives filed signatures in Arizona by the July 3 deadline. Earlier on Monday, August 11, Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer issued a statement officially disqualifying Proposition 203 on the grounds of insufficient signatures. Supporters of the TIME initiative are said to have a $1,000,000 warchest for the campaign. Late last week, Brewer similarly disqualified Proposition 101. Four of the nine initiatives have been certified, while three more wait with increasingly white knuckles. TIME initiative does not make ballot

Two Ohio initiative campaigns filed signatures by the Aug. 6th deadline. Both measures, the Ohio Healthy Families Act and the Ohio Casino Act, filed nearly twice the required number of signatures to earn a spot on Ohio's November ballot.

In the only state whose Secretary of State keeps the office open until midnight on filing day, supporters of one initiative, to make it a crime to shoot wild animals in captivity, took advantage of the later hours to file 12,964 signatures. 12,844 are needed, and fans of citizen initiatives everywhere are keeping their fingers crossed. Supporters of the Restructure the WSI Agency Initiative are breathing a sigh of relief having filed 15,554 signatures mid-day on Tuesday. These two initiatives join the Income Tax Cut Initiative and the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program Initiative as contenders for the North Dakota ballot.

The Missouri Secretary of State announced on August 5 that only two ballot initiatives of five that submitted signatures in early May had qualified for the Missouri ballot. The measures that qualified are the Home Health Care Initiative and the casino-funded effort to repeal the state's stop loss limits. These certifications bring to forty the number of initiatives that have been certified across the country thus far....More

Six Colorado initiative campaigns submitted petitions on deadline-day Aug. 4, 2008, setting up possibly the most ballot measures on the November ballot since 1912, the first year Colorado gave voters the chance to vote on such measures. Eight measures, included four submitted by the state legislature, have already been certified for the ballot. Eleven others await certification by the Secretary of State, following the validation process. See Colorado 2008 ballot measures for more details.

The Arizona Republic is reporting that three of the eight ballot initatives that filed in early July may be in signature trouble, with a higher-than-normal invalidity rate of 35%. 25% invalidity rates are the historical norm in Arizona. The initiatives in trouble are Protect Our Homes, Prop 103 and 203, the TIME initiative. Prop. 200, the payday loan act, is the only one of the nine so far to receive the prized certification letter. Backers face trouble

Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury on Friday announced that he has officially certified eight initiatives for the November 4, 2008 ballot in Oregon. Five of the eight measures are sponsored by long-time Oregon initiative activist Bill Sizemore. Two of the Sizemore measures, 60 and 64 are sure to draw heavy union opposition, particularly from Our Oregon. An innovative measure, Measure 65, which would move Oregon to a system of open primaries, has also qualified. Eight initiatives make state ballot

Legal news

A judge has ruled that the ballot title of Proposition 8 written by AG Jerry Brown's shall stay in place, disappointing supporters of Prop. 8 who believe Brown's ballot title is prejudicial.

A Florida judge ruled this week that two commission referrals, Amendment 7 and Amendment 9 are suitable for the November ballot. The Florida Education Association filed a lawsuit in early June seeking to have the measures removed from the ballot. By Friday, the FEA had filed an appeal of the trial judge's ruling, seeking once against to have both measures stricken from the ballot....details

The Homebuilders Association has filed a lawsuit seeking to keep Proposition 201 off the ballot on the grounds that the ballot title for the proposition is "rife with errors and intentionally misleading."^[1]

The Nevada Supreme Court ruled July 25, 2008, that a challenge to Nevada's term limits law, pursued by attorneys for the Legislative Counsel Bureau, was barred because the challenge came more than a decade after voters approved the limits. Las Vegas Review-Journal

The court also ruled, in a unanimous decision, that 21 elected officials must be removed from the ballot because term limits made them ineligible to run for re-election. The court said the clock for term limits started ticking in 1996 for local officials, making those with 12 years of service or more ineligible to run for another term.^[2]

The court also unanimously ruled that the start date for lawmaker terms was different than for local officials, and that the clock for them did not start ticking until 1998.^[2] (Read full story here.)

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its ruling July 9th on Nader v. Brewer, 06-16251, striking down Arizona's residency requirement for petition circulators, as well as its early deadline for submitting signatures for independent presidential candidates.Ballot Access New

The decision, in a 3-0 vote, struck down the ban on out-of-state circulators based on logic that would apply equally to any type of petition. Judge Mary M. Schroeder wrote the Nadar v Brewer opinion. The ruling effectively strikes down such requirements in Alaska, California, Idaho, and Montana as well—all states covered by the Ninth Circuit.

On July 7, in the case of Jenkins v. Hale, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that signatures on nominating petitions that gave a P.O. Box rather than a street address are valid signatures. As a result of this ruling, the names of two candidates will appear on the September 2 Democratic primary ballot that otherwise would not have appeared. The ruling is seen as a victory for courts honoring what is known as signer-intent.

Opponents of the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court on June 30 to keep the initiative off the November ballot. The claim opponents are making is that the state's election law was violated by petition circulators for the measure, who are alleged to have misrepresented the purpose of the initiative. ...more

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