On Monday, the Secretary of State is supposed to report the the "full count" of signatures presented by PFAS more than three months ago.  A number of large counties have not yet reported, so of course we do not have complete information.

Of the counties that have reported, the count is much higher than the projections made in the Secretary of State's estimating process.  Still, it is possible that on Monday we will be slightly short of the 504,760 signatures needed.

Of course if we come up short on Monday, you can expect to hear that the issue has been decided and that the referendum failed.  Don't believe it.

The process to validate signatures is a very subjective one.  Signatures are thrown out for good reasons and for a lot of bad reasons.  The courts have repeatedly sided with proponents of a referendum in favor of their Constitutional rights and against the heavy hand of bureaucracy that might strip those rights.

PFAS is anxious to challenge any signature that has been unfairly thrown out.  But the Secretary of State is not required to tell us why she is throwing out signatures until after Monday. 

Only once during the counting process did the Secretary of State let us know why certain signatures were thrown out.  PFAS challenged her in court and the judge ordered that several thousand signatures be counted. 

We are prepared to do that again, as many times as we need to, until every valid signature is counted and the referendum qualifies for the ballot.

As always, we are thankful to those who have contributed funds to qualify and defend the referendum.  If you can help us financially as we go into this important week, please do so.

Gina Gleason
Proponent

Day of Transparency  

 

Proponents of AB 1266 are already labeling next Monday as the "Day of Decision" when they say the fate of AB 1266 and the referendum will be decided.  

 

Not so fast. 

 

Since November 10 of 2013 when PFAS submitted about 620,000 signatures to the 58 counties, we have been on the bench waiting.  In the more than three months since submission of the signatures we have endured a random sample where the final count was "estimated" (with very low accuracy) and now are waiting on a "full count" of the signatures.  The results of that full count are supposed to be announced on Monday. 

We certainly hope that the full count will show that more than enough signatures were submitted.  But if the count is short, there is a statutory right to challenge the results.

 

Remember that the full count is being conducted behind closed doors, in 58 separate jurisdictions, applying their own rules and judgment to whether each signature should be counted.  This process has been described as more subjective than the one involving the infamous "hanging chads".

 

Monday should be described as a "Day of Transparency".  On that day we will get a first glimpse at how many signatures were invalidated and learn why these were thrown out.

 

Make no mistake, some signatures will legitimately be deemed invalid.  But PFAS does not believe that 115,000 signatures are invalid.  And we have pledged from the beginning that we will fight to have each valid signature counted.

 

We did leave the sidelines briefly during the last three months to challenge the Secretary of State's decision to throw out all of the signatures submitted in two counties.  you might recall that the judge agreed with PFAS and ordered that the signatures be counted. 

 

We are prepared to return to court if necessary.  And we need your help in funding those court battles.  

 

Come Monday, we know that one side or the other will be celebrating.  But we also know that the battle will not be decided on that day.