Then tune in to Lars Larson’s show at 1 pm today, when anti-gay activists—the folks who tried to put a referendum vote over the state’s new domestic partnership law on next fall’s ballot—complain that county elections officials are refusing the bend the law to review signatures they’d tossed out.

From David Crowe at Restore America:

Lars Larson will interview Alliance Defense Fund Attorney Austin Nimocks at 1 PM today regarding the Oregon Elections Division refusal to reconsider legitimate signatures on petition 303, the domestic partnerships petition.

Nimocks, one of two attorneys from ADF’s headquarters in Scottsdale Arizona who reviewed every rejected signature against the Oregon Voter File while in Oregon, will argue in support of the right of wrongly and erroneouly rejected petition signers to have their signatrures counted.

The Fact is: Those behind the scenes in Oregon civil government DO NOT WANT OREGONIANS TO VOTE ON THIS ISSUE! RECLAIM YOUR RIGHTS! DEMAND THE ELECTIONS OFFICIALS RESTORE THAT RIGHT TO THE FEW, THAT THE MANY MAY VOTE!

Tune in in the Portland area to KXL 750 at 1PM , listen to then interview and then call in to 866-HEY LARS to state your support.

I wrote a bit on this issue in today’s paper, but I only had space for a tiny quote from Marion County Clerk Bill Burgess, who’s written a few emails detailing their office’s position on Restore America’s efforts. (An earlier hysterical email from Crowe took aim at Marion County.) Here’s the rest of what he had to say. The first email was to media and citizens who’ve inquired, the second to other county elections’ offices and the Secretary of State:

We have not erred. Our office meticulously checks signatures on state petitions as directed by the Secretary of State and statute. We check petition signatures to voter registration card signatures. If a signature is rejected, it is rechecked by a second, and if needed, a third person. Enfranchisement and upholding the law is paramount. There is no delineated procedure to reassess signatures after returning a petition to the Secretary of State. In keeping with uniform handling of petitions, we will not review any signatures on petition 303, since we have returned that petition. We have been advised by both our legal counsel and the Secretary of State (Election Division) that attestations have no place in determining a signature match on petitions.

Please call with any questions.

Thanks,
Bill Burgess

Folks,

Marion County will not, without court order, legislation, or Secretary of State directive, reconsider petition signature verification. All initially rejected signatures are reviewed before we finalize our report. Later reconsideration would set quite a precedent, wrecking havoc with time lines, putting into question finality of decisions.

Bill

I have a feeling Lars isn’t going to invite Burgess on the air. What he has to say just makes too much sense.