The fate of a voter initiative is in the hands of the state’s highest court. Dan Traynor of Devils Lake and Attorney general Wayne Stenehjem presented arguments for their respective clients, to the North Dakota Supreme Court Wednesday.
Traynor representing the sponsoring committee that circulated a petition this summer asking that a repeal of North Dakota’s Pharmacy Ownership Law be placed on the November Ballot says that the missing part of that petition that listed the names of the sponsoring committee represents a minor lack of compliance. Traynor reminded the court that the Supreme Court itself had set a precedent of allowing “significant compliance.”
Attorney General Stenehjem says that the court “need go no further than the clear text of the state constitution” when making a decision. Stenehjem says that the omission of the list nullifies the petition because it denied voters pertinent information at a time when they needed it most. He says that “no one makes an appointment to sign a petition.” Stenehjem argued that when people are approached in public to sign a petition they should have access to all the information called for by the state constitution.
Traynor says that there is no attempt to deceive voters or maliciousness on the part of the sponsoring committee. Traynor speaking to the court said “there is no question that the nearly 14,000 who signed knew what they were signing.” Traynor went on to say that “it would be remarkable for the court to reject a ‘good faith effort’.”
Stenehjem characterizes the missing document as a “wholesale and complete failure to comply with requirements.”
The North Dakota Supreme Court is expected to offer a ruling before September 8th to give time to Secretary of State Al Jeager to certify and distribute the ballot for printing ahead of the November election.
