JENNIFER BYRD Associated Press Writer
HELENA Supporters of three initiatives filed their final brief with the state Supreme Court Tuesday, leaving the fate of the measures with the high court. Initiative supporters reiterated arguments that they didn't have enough time to mount a defense, and asked the Supreme Court to re-certify the measures for the Nov. 7 ballot. They said few cases of actual fraud were found. “Only limited evidence of such tactics was presented in spite of the fact that tens of thousands of signatures were collected from Montana voters across the entire state,” attorney Chris Gallus wrote for initiative supporters. Initiative opponents want the high court to uphold District Judge Dirk M. Sandefur’s ruling that the measures were plagued by fraud during the signature-gathering process. Constitutional Initiative 97 would impose a cap on state spending, CI-98 would make it easier to recall judges, and I-154 would allow property owners to demand and receive compensation if they feel a government action has devalued their property. The attorney general's office filed a brief Friday arguing that the supporters of the initiatives had plenty of time to make their case. “Proponents had ample notice _ at least as much notice as opponents had _ of the potential fraud issues in signature gathering,” Assistant Attorney General Anthony Johnstone wrote, adding that the secretary of state's office contacted both parties in early June to inform them of the fraud allegations. On Monday, Chief Justice Karla Gray denied a request from the attorney general's office to have a retabulation of signatures gathered by the suspect gatherers included in the court record. The secretary of state's office conducted the review. Those figures were not considered by Sandefur, however, and should not be included in the court record now, Gray ruled. The measures will still appear on ballots, which are being printed or, in the case of absentee ballots, are being mailed out. If the lower court ruling stands, election officials said they simply won’t count any votes for or against the measures. Also Tuesday, a group calling itself Montanans for Equal Application of Initiative Laws filed a lawsuit in District Court in Great Falls asking that two other ballot initiatives be disqualified. The suit alleges that signatures gathered to qualify initiatives 151 and 153 were not properly obtained. I-151 would raise the minimum wage in Montana. I-153, which is backed by Gov. Brian Schweitzer, would make elected officials and others in state government wait two years after leaving office before becoming lobbyists. The lawsuit alleges that “given the number of signatures and the distances between the counties in which they were collected,” certain individuals could not certify that the signatures were genuine or that signers knew the contents of the petition before signing it. The suit says Eric Feaver, president of MEA-MFT, certified more than 1,400 signatures from all across the state on a single day. Feaver said most of the signatures were collected by members of MEA-MFT and he vouched for them. “I understood that to be acceptable under the laws,” Feaver said, adding that his organization collected signatures only for the minimum wage initiative. “We’ll see what the court has to say, but I’m confident we did the right thing for the right reasons.”
