Nevada Ballot Question Rule Invalidated
December 8, 2006
Las Vegas Sun
Nevada's "13 counties" rule for ballot questions, rejected more than two years ago by a US District Court judge in Las Vegas, got the same treatment Friday from the San Francisco based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. Both courts said the rule is unconstitutional because it required a ballot initiative to have signatures from at least 10 percent of the voters who voted in the most recent general election in at least 13 of the state's 17 counties.
The appeals court says the rule "dilutes the votes of residents of densely populated counties in violation of the Equal Protection Clause." The lower federal court's 2004 ruling came in response to a lawsuit and motion for injunction filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and the Marijuana Policy Project, among others.
The lawsuit followed Secretary of State Dean Heller's announcement that supporters of a 2004 marijuana initiative lacked enough valid signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot that year.
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