Over at his blog, b!X is asking “whether or not it was even legal” for the homophobes behind the two anti-gay petitions to collect signatures at post offices around the state, as they announced they were going to do last week. As b!X points out, there’s been a legal wrestling match in the past few years, over whether or not signatures gathering at the post office is legit.

I checked in with the USPS, and got in touch with a public info officer who consulted with postal attorneys. The verdict? The ‘phobes (or anyone else) can’t collect signatures on post office property, but the public sidewalk adjacent to a post office is fair game.

From the postal rules:

Soliciting alms and contributions, campaigning for election to any public office, collecting private debts, commercial soliciting and vending, displaying or distributing commercial advertising, soliciting signatures on petitions, polls, or surveys (except as otherwise authorized by USPS regulations), and impeding entrance to or departure from Post Offices are prohibited on postal property.

Anyone see any postal petitioning this weekend? Was it on the sidewalk?