A petition drive to reverse Oregon’s domestic-partnership law failed last week when a federal judge ruled it fell just short of the number of signatures needed, but no one seems to be able to explain why some signatures were rejected. The law went into effect Monday.
“I feel like I don’t matter, like my rights have been discounted," said Phillip Lemons, who was told his signature had been removed from the petition.
“The county clerk told me she didn’t have the power to accept my signature, even though I identified myself as, yes, this is really me; I really did sign this.”
Dozens of voters told the same story.
Austin Nimocks, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, said it doesn't make sense.
“Even when they went down and looked the county clerk in the face and said, ‘This is my signature,’ (and) provided a driver’s license to confirm that it was a valid, genuine signature on that petition, nobody would listen to them," he said.
What's more astounding, Nimocks said, is that Judge Michael Mosman essentially said there is no guarantee that signatures will be counted.
“This decision should send shockwaves not just through Oregon, but every single state that has an initiative and referendum process," he said, "because it’s a process that exists in half of our country’s states.”
