Initiative gatherers violated the spirit of the law

Editorial - Great Falls Tribune - September 17, 2006

Don't like Montana law?

The state's initiative process makes it relatively easy for citizens to craft new laws and put them on the ballot.

Unfortunately, as we're witnessing now, it's also apparently easy to subvert that process.

Supporters of three proposed ballot initiatives hired out-of-state signature gatherers to get their measure on the ballot in November.

But their tactics in gathering those signatures were dubious, at best.

District Judge Dirk Sandefur put the brakes on the process last week by declaring all three petitions invalid for the ballot.

The supporters, predictably squealing about activist judges, are appealing. But it's clear that they violated the spirit, if the not the letter, of the initiative process.

We're not disputing the merits of the three initiatives. There will be plenty of opportunity to examine and debate whether they make sense — if they ever do make it onto the ballot.

What's troubling is that what was crafted as a citizen-driven process was instead co-opted by out-of-state interests who used deceptive practices in gathering signatures.

It's certainly not illegal to use out-of-state money on local causes. But one requirement of state law is those who gather signatures for a ballot initiative must provide a valid Montana address.

Turns out 43 of those people were not Montana residents and gave false addresses.

The out-of-state workers, paid by the number of signatures they gathered, earned some $633,000. That money came from unspecified out-of-state donors.

Sandefur ruled that they "skirted procedural requirements and were evasive and deceptive" in getting the signatures.

One, Marvin King, certified almost 15,000 signatures in a two-week period in Billings. That figures out to more than one signature a minute, 24 hours a day.

Furthermore, 288 of those signatures were from Missoula County residents.

How could this happen? The petition supporters didn't present any explanation.

Another gatherer told residents he was hired by the Montana attorney general to gather signatures because the initiatives were necessary for Montana.

And several gatherers asked people to sign multiple copies of an initiative because they had no carbon paper. In fact, the people actually were signing different initiatives.

Of course people should always read anything they're signing carefully. But when you're caught in a grocery store parking lot with your arms full and a high-pressure signature gatherer approaches (as happened to one of our staff members) it's easy to see how people get distracted.

Our staff member declined to sign the initiatives because she's a journalist, but she was followed to her car and repeatedly urged to sign.

This kind of behavior corrupts the initiative process.

It's also unfairly taints all the hard-working volunteers who are out there fairly gathering signatures for causes they believe in.

Previous initiatives passed by such grassroots efforts range from directing the state how to spend tobacco settlement dollars, to establishing a medical marijuana act, to prohibiting cyanide heap-leach mining, to requiring the state to only recognize marriage between one man and one woman.

While not everyone likes these laws, they were mostly the efforts of Montanans who believed strongly in them.

It's nearly impossible to make that case with the initiatives thrown out last week.

If the Supreme Court does allow them back on the ballot, we need to revamp the initiative process to better reflect the values of Montanans.