Supporters of Right-Wing Initiative Use Dirty Tricks To Get On The Ballot In Montana
Supporters of Right-Wing Initiative Use Dirty Tricks To Get On The Ballot In Montana
The so-called “Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights” (TABOR) isn’t yet on the ballot in Montana, but right-wing activists are trying all the dirty tricks they can find to get it there. TABOR arbitrarily caps “increases in state spending based on…population growth and the consumer price index,” restricting a state’s ability to set priorities, respond to crises, and offer public services.
Many Montanans have called the Montana Commission of Political Practices about “being tricked or coerced into signing ballot initiative petitions they didn’t intend to sign.” One of those petitions was CI-97, the state’s TABOR (or “SOS”) measure.
ThinkProgress spoke to Gordy Higgins, the Montana Commissioner of Political Parties. Higgins confirmed that his office has received numerous informal complaints about the petitions’ signature gatherers and expects a formal complaint to be filed with his office sometime this week. Some of the most common schemes he has heard about:
1. The Carbon-Copy Scheme: Signature gatherers would lay out three petitions on a clipboard. The gatherer would discuss one of the petitions — usually the one on eminent domain. If the person signed it, the gatherer would then say, “We can’t have photocopies or carbon copies, so would you mind signing these two other petitions?” Thinking that he or she was signing copies of the first petition, the person would sign the second two. In fact, the second two petitions were on judicial recall and TABOR.
2. The Forgery Scheme: Signature gatherers would have a person sign one petition, then say, “We understand you’re busy – if you write your name on the first one, we’ll sign your name on the other two, so you can get on your way.” The signature gatherers would then forge the person’s signature on the other two petitions.
3. The Fake Petitions Scheme: Signature gatherers would tell people about totally fake petitions, such as a “one-strike sex-offender initiative.” In reality they were signing petitions supporting eminent domain, judicial recall, and TABOR.
Higgins also told ThinkProgress that the “itinerant circulators” seem to have left Montana and gone on to other states and other ballot initiatives. It’s likely that we haven’t seen the end of their dirty tactics.
For more on efforts to fight TABOR in Montana, visit Not In Montana.
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30 Responses to “Supporters of Right-Wing Initiative Use Dirty Tricks To Get On The Ballot In Montana”
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That is absolutely filthy! It’s scary that this kind of crap goes on in the United States.
June 20th, 2006 at 12:03 pmAnother good piece of investigative reporting Amanda. I’ll bet if you uncovered every dumpster in Montana, you’d find evidence of KKKarl Rove. No need to bother…I can smell him.
June 20th, 2006 at 12:04 pmGOP loves to do dirty tricks, but why are the Democrats hiding out as usual? I do not see the election machines repaired for honesty for November as of yet!
June 20th, 2006 at 12:07 pm1. It seems everything they do is filthy. And I do mean EVERYTHING. They will stop at absolutely nothing to win elections. The only way to begin to remedy this situation is for the MSM to step up and save us from the point of no return. I don’t know what it’s going to take. I myself have written letters to representatives in my home, as well as others in other states - namely Hillary, who didn’t seem to have the time to answer my query because I am not one of her constituents. But when she votes on issues that MATTER to the whole damn country, then I have a right to SAY SOMETHING. I am sick to death of all the ignorance - I am sick to death for the states that keep electing these fools (like him). I personally do not have TV - can’t stand the distraction of the advertisers, and especially the misinformation on the nightly news…I can’t seem to justify getting my satellite turned back on just for the Daily Show and Colbert Report. It’s sad that the only way the truth seems to get through is through joking about it.
The only thing that will set us free is THE TRUTH!
June 20th, 2006 at 12:18 pmTABOR…
June 20th, 2006 at 12:23 pmThe Asshole Bunch Of Republicans?
Post 4 > do not bother sending anything to Sen. Hillary Clinton > she decided to sell out to the Bush Regime on everything! She is a co-sponser of the right-wing sludge amendment to outlaw burning of American flags! Notice that her husband Bill says nothing about Dubya and hangs out with Bush Senior all the time too! Hillary is being groomed to replace Dubya in 2009 if he is unable to remain in office as a dictator!
June 20th, 2006 at 12:25 pmTABOR…
June 20th, 2006 at 12:29 pmThe Arrogant Bastards Of Reagan?
Didn’t Colorado overturn TABOR when it was proven how it was screwing the state people in how their taxes were used?
June 20th, 2006 at 12:29 pmYeah, TABOR was repealed in Colorado. I met one of these guys outside a grocerie store in Helena, MT. He showed me the Eminent Domain one first and then tried to get me to sign the other two. I declined to sign any. The guy was about 60 and was wearing one of those golfer’s straw hats.
June 20th, 2006 at 12:46 pmCriminal forgery of voter signatures aside, this once again shows how important it is for those approached with a petition to actually read what it says at the top. I have encountered duplicitous petition gatherers who grew very nervous when I asked questions and as I read the top description they would often ramble away in an attempt to distract me. We must keep in mind that far too many petition gatherers are not out their out of civic resolve but are being paid per signature. That process invites fraud and deceit. Full public financing of campaigns is the only solution to end the whoring of our elected officials and any genuine reform must also tackle the way in which signatures are gathered for petitions.
In the TABOR case just a few petition signers are needed to take legal action against the petition gatherers for forging their signatures. Bringing pressure to bear on the gatherers could then force them to spill the beans on who issued the directive. At minimum the RICO statute could then be used to finally bring the fat backsides at the top to public justice. Any Montana prosecutors listening?
June 20th, 2006 at 1:03 pmSo, they are acting like a malign sect or gang of thugs?
June 20th, 2006 at 1:05 pmlook out when the clipboards start getting passed threw the pews instead of the baskets
June 20th, 2006 at 1:14 pmHoly Guacamole! I cannot believe the gullibility of people. It is so simple, 1 issue per petition. There are different rules in different states, I know, but since all signatures on a petition must be verified as belonging to registered voters before the actual valid number of signatures can be tallied, multiple signatures on the ’same’ petitions would be a liability. Everyone, if you are going to sign any petition, make sure you read it first! And read every one you are given to sign. If the petitioner objects, you should refuse to sign anything that you have not read for yourself. And be sure to check both sides of the petition, just to be safe. It couldn’t hurt. People in Montana should contact their local papers, and ask them to explain how the petition process works in their state, what the rules are. Republicans prey on the uninformed voter, and will do anything to win.
June 20th, 2006 at 1:21 pmI for one, would always read anything I am signing. Are these jokers being paid to move around the country and do this? and by whom? (Give you one guess).The RNC is always above board when it comes to an accurate representation of voters’ wishes. Right?
June 20th, 2006 at 1:34 pmwasn’t TABOR great for CO? Even my hippy sister seemed to like it.
June 20th, 2006 at 1:43 pm#15 - No, Squeegy.
http://www.cbpp.org/10-19-05sfp.htm
June 20th, 2006 at 1:45 pm#16 - No, it wasn’t. The Colorado people wanted to invest more in education but TABOR blocked it. They wanted to invest more in public health, but TABOR blocked it.
Because of TABOR, the reallocation of funds was blocked, and the national standing of Colorado went from “marginal” to “lowest percentile”.
Just read the site referenced by Zookeeper in post #16. Here’s some Colorado business leaders:
“Coloradoans were told in 1992 . . . that [TABOR] guaranteed them a right to vote on any and all tax increases. . . . What the public didn’t realize was that it would contain the strictest tax and spending limitation of any state in the country, and long-term would hobble us economically.†— Tom Clark, Executive Vice President, Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation
“The [TABOR] formula . . . has an insidious effect where it shrinks government every year, year after year after year after year; it’s never small enough. …That is not the best way to form public policy.†— Brad Young, former Colorado state representative (R) and Chair of the Joint Budget Committee
“[Business leaders] have figured out that no business would survive if it were run like the TABOR faithful say Colorado should be run — with withering tax support for college and universities, underfunded public schools and a future of crumbling roads and bridges.†— Neil Westergaard, Editor of the Denver Business Journal
June 20th, 2006 at 2:05 pmJust put all these measures on the ballot. What is the big deal anyways? In the end, the people of that state will decide regardless. An I wrong?
June 20th, 2006 at 2:29 pm#8 and 9: sadly, TABOR was not repealed in CO. Referendum C provided a one-time fix to the ‘ratchet’ effect but did not repeal TABOR or protect against other future problems. Referendum D, which would have injected an additional much-needed matching sum from bond initiatives, was narrowly defeated. Ref C has done a lot of good and its Road Show and Podcast provide a good example of accountability in politics.
as a sign of how bad TABOR was for Colorado, Ref C was strongly endorsed by both parties and supported by Owens, who generally doesn’t believe in anything that isn’t specifically designed to help his golfing buddies.
June 20th, 2006 at 2:32 pmTo #18:
With all due respect, signing a petition is the first part of the voting process. If a petition came up that suggested children should be forced into industrial labor at the age of five you should be able to know right then that such a ballot deserves no support.
June 20th, 2006 at 2:40 pm# 18 Your absolutely correct. Why should anybody other than a resident of Montana
June 20th, 2006 at 2:45 pmbe concerned on how the people of Montana spend or not spend THEIR tax $$$
Something like TABOR or the ability to get rid of Judge’s in the end will get enough signitures to get on the ballot anyways. Hell, this article didn’t even say how many signitures this stuff has anyways. For all we know, they may have 4 times the amount needed anyways. In that case, your crying over spilled milk.
If they want TABOR, let them have it. If they don’t like it later on, they can once again let the people of Montana vote on repealing it. I really don’t see the problem with this process.
Hell, the democrats are letting South Dakota voters vote on the abortion ban which is also a very godd thing.
Anytime the people of a state get to decide such matters, everyone wins IMO.
June 20th, 2006 at 2:57 pmJerad
How do you know? These signatures weren’t taken honestly, and it is clear that the propenents of this idea don’t have the confidence in their ideas to believe that anybody would agree with them, how do you know that this would have made the balots anyway?
The big problem here is that this basically makes the petitions lies, and that invalidates any point these petitions were trying to make. This weakens the power of later, valid petitions the more it happens. Eventually, petitions will just be completely ignored because of this kind of shit, and do you really want that?
June 20th, 2006 at 3:16 pmI would wager to bet that all petitions that require signitures regardless of state or party has some fraud involved. There are just way to many people that go out to get the signitures to not assume at least 1 is a bad apple. One person in that state could easily forge 100’s of signitures. Hell, it probably happened in South Dakota as well.
Again, if they barely have enough, then there is a problem. If they have way more then they need already, simply remove all the signitures from the person/persons involved in the questionable signitures. Simple.
June 20th, 2006 at 3:29 pm#18-jerad- That all depends on WHO is counting the votes.
June 20th, 2006 at 3:32 pmJerad;
June 20th, 2006 at 4:32 pmI don’t like fraud and deceit as part of our election process. This includes fraudulent signature. There is often irregularities in even the most well run and honest petition drive, but the pattern in this drive show a general conspiracy with the sponsers ordering the signature collectors to use fraud and deceit. I wonder if rico charges would be appropriate.
these ballot initiatives cost the state money to print and count. Why should Montana tax payers be defrauded of their money? Why don’t you send some cash to Montana to help pay for these initiatives.
My bad, I was under the impression that TABOR was repealed. The problem is that, in MT at least, stuff gets on the ballot that is crap, but Montanans are a trusting lot and figure that if something is on the ballot, it must have merit so they vote for it. Sometimes the wording is so vague, you can’t tell what you are voting for. That earns a “NO” from me, but not others.
The re-call judges amendment is bizzarre. Montana has very little, if any, problem with its judges although they frequently take progressive stance on issues. I would guess that right-wing interests could force a judge into a costly re-call election if they don’t like they way they vote.
I’m glad this issue is spotlighted on this forum, because it serves as a heads-up to other states where these type of initiatives may appear.
June 20th, 2006 at 4:36 pmIt’s amazing that they can get away with these forged petitions, when half the House and Senate think online petitions from progressive causes are fake but they’re the ones coming from real people!
June 26th, 2006 at 9:18 am[…] About a month ago, Matt brought us a roundup of the illegal and illegitimate tactics that out of state right wingers are using to get radical ballot issues qualified. Come to find out that ThinkProgress went up last week claiming some of the same things. […]
July 1st, 2006 at 2:14 pm[…] they can’t actually get anyone beyond a few sheople to sign their shit, they have to use dirty tactics. One of their biggest problems is, most of cattle who do respond to fear, do not use the Internet […]
March 19th, 2008 at 4:25 pm