Sides in TABOR protest working to expedite hearings
Marie Price, The Journal Record
May 1, 2006
OKLAHOMA CITY -– Attorneys involved in
a signature protest against the Taxpayer Bill of Rights ballot proposal have agreed to
carve out areas of agreement, hoping to avoid a lengthy signature challenge as occurred with the cockfighting ban
in 2000.
That line-by-line challenge took about a month of daily hearings before Oklahoma Supreme Court referee
Greg Albert, who is also referee on the TABOR challenge.
Attorneys for the protestants and TABOR supporters met with Albert on Friday morning
to line out a plan of action.
The start of scheduled signature hearings
was postponed until June 15.
Attorney Kieran Maye Jr., representing
TABOR supporters, estimated that the hearings
would take about a dozen trial days
spread over three weeks or so.
Maye said the ability to use electronic
databases to make comparisons with voter
registrations and related issues should help
the two sides weed out signatures that are
unquestionably valid.
Maye mapped out hearing dates to run
from June 15-21, 27-30 and July 6, 7 and 10.
Under Oklahoma law, a proposed state
question must be ready for the ballot at least
60 days before an election. This year’s general
election is Nov. 7.
Albert will report his findings to the
Oklahoma Supreme Court, which will make
a ruling on the challenge.
Albert said that if the hearings are
wrapped up by mid-July, the justices theoretically
could act on the proposed State Question
726 by September.
Mary Robertson, attorney for several
civic and business leaders protesting the
TABOR petition, discussed a motion to compel
two notaries to produce journals relating
to their notarization of some petitions.
Attorney Jack Dawson, for TABOR petition
supporters, said the notaries have
requested a court order requiring them to
turn over the journals.
Dawson said the notaries want to redact
personal information on petition circulators
such as Social Security and credit card numbers.
He said this information could be provided
later if protestants’ attorneys are
unable to locate circulators without it.
Robertson said redacting this information
would delay the process.
Albert suggested that access to this data
be provided "in camera," outside the public
hearing, and not be made a matter of record.
He said a protective order can be drafted to
that effect.
Dawson said the two notaries have until
May 3 to object to the motion.
The TABOR proposal, modeled after a
Colorado law, would limit growth in state
government spending to the combined
growth rates of inflation and population. A
portion of any savings would go to taxpayers
in the form of rebates.
The spending cap in the Colorado
TABOR, the only such law in existence, was
suspended last November for the next five
years.
In addition to challenging the validity of
some signatures, the protestants contend
that many petition circulators were from out
of state, a violation of state law. They are also
challenging some notarizations and the constitutionality
of the proposed new law itself.
Oklahomans in Action filed petitions containing
299,029 signatures with the Oklahoma
secretary of state’s office in January.
To make it to the ballot, the proposal
must survive the challenge with at least
219,564 valid voter signatures.
