ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND NEWS RELEASE
January 22, 2007 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020
ADF attorneys file motion over wrongfully rejected signatures on petition to put “domestic partnerships” issue before voters
PORTLAND, Ore. — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund are asking a federal judge to make his preliminary injunction against Oregon’s “domestic partnerships” bill permanent in a lawsuit filed on behalf of disenfranchised petition signers in Oregon. County clerks’ offices wrongfully rejected the signatures of a number of registered voters, causing the referendum on Oregon House Bill 2007, which would create “domestic partnerships” in the state, to fall short by only five signatures.
“The right to exercise one’s voice in the democratic process is a crucial one, and state and county officials must not infringe upon that right,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks. “Our country is founded on the basic principle of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Oregon citizens should not be denied the right to have their vote count on this matter.”
On Dec. 29, a federal judge granted ADF attorneys’ request to prevent the “domestic partnerships” bill from going into effect while the lawsuit goes forward (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4346). A hearing will be held Feb. 1.
ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit Dec. 3 on behalf of several Oregonians after the Secretary of State and several different county clerks invalidated the citizens’ petition signatures for a referendum that would allow voters to decide the “domestic partnerships” issue. Many of these excluded citizens sought in person, but to no avail, to have their signatures validated since no legitimate reason existed to refuse to allow these registered voters to participate in the democratic process.
According to the brief filed Friday, “The only real dispute in this case is whether the Secretary of State and county clerks can constitutionally refuse to give excluded signers notice that their signatures have been rejected and refuse to give them any opportunity—even when they learn of the disenfranchisement on their own—to verify their signatures and make sure that their vote counts.”
The full text of the memo in support of the motion for permanent injunction filed in the case, Lemons v. Bradbury, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/LemonsBrief.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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