circulators

Beyond fireworks, American flags and barbecue, be prepared for another sight at Arkansas’ Fourth of July festivals and parades this weekend: Someone asking for signatures.

Supporters of efforts to raise the state’s minimum wage, legalize medical and recreational uses of marijuana and expand alcohol sales are making a last push to gather signatures over the holiday weekend as they near the deadline to submit petitions to the state.

Signature gatherers for a series of oil-and-gas ballot initiatives failed to receive state licensing before they began circulating petitions Wednesday.

Although gatherers hit the streets Wednesday morning, their required license from the Colorado Secretary of State was not issued until Thursday morning.

As a result, organizers said they discarded the handful of signatures gathered Wednesday and started fresh Thursday with a valid license in hand.

Read more: here

A federal judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of an Ohio law barring out-of-state residents from circulating petitions needed to place an issue or candidate on the ballot.

U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson said in ruling this week that he could identify no harm that would come to the state from allowing nonresidents to gather signatures.

The injunction comes in a dual challenge by the Libertarian Party of Ohio and a group that includes Citizens in Charge, a ballot access organization, and backers of two active ballot campaigns.

Read More: here

The Ohio Secretary of State’s omnibus election law bill, SB 47, has a few provisions that impact ballot access. The bill repeals the ban on out-of-state circulators, for all types of petition. The only remaining requirement for a circulator would be that the circulator is at least 18 years old.

However, it makes it somewhat more difficult for initiatives and referendum to appear on the ballot. Currently, when election official determine that such a petition lacks enough valid signatures, the proponents have ten days to collect more signatures. The bill eliminates the ability to get new signatures during the ten-day period.

State lawmakers voted Tuesday to ban petition circulators for initiatives and referendums from being paid based upon the number of signatures they collect.

Read the story from the Arizona Republic