State Judge invalidates trio of initiatives

By The Gazette State Bureau

GREAT FALLS - A state district judge Wednesday invalidated three controversial ballot measures in Montana, citing a "pervasive and general pattern of fraud" in the signature-gathering process that placed them on the November ballot.

The measures include a constitutional initiative to cap state spending, another constitutional change making it easier to recall judges, and an initiative on property rights.

District Judge Dirk Sandefur of Great Falls invalidated thousands of signatures turned in by four out-of-state, paid signature-gatherers. He said that invalidation means the measures are thrown off the November ballot.

Proponents of the ballot measures said Wednesday they will appeal the order to the Montana Supreme Court. "The voters need the right to petition," said Trevis Butcher, a Winifred rancher and leader of the campaign for Constitutional initiatives 97 and 98 and Initiative 154. "It's not just a slap in the face to those directly involved, but it's to every Montanan. ... It's a sad day in the state of Montana."

Opponents of CI-97 were jubilant, saying the judge made the right ruling in the face of evidence of widespread fraud by an army of paid, out-of-state signature-gatherers.

"It's been fraud from the start," said Joe Lamson, spokesman for Not In Montana, the group organized to fight CI-97. "(The judge) saw that and believed that the integrity of the initiative process was too important to allow these kind of activities to continue."

Sandefur's 46-page ruling, issued shortly after noon Wednesday, came just five days after a hearing on the issue in Great Falls.

At that hearing, witnesses for the opponents of the initiatives said signature-gatherers misled signers about the measures' contents and did not follow state law when submitting and vouching for thousands of signatures.

Butcher said Wednesday that the errors pertained to only a few signature-gatherers, and that the vast majority of signatures were made willingly and with knowledge of the issues.

Published on Wednesday, September 13, 2006.
Last modified on 9/13/2006 at 2:45 pm