Niemand
Member
Problems with the Nevada Initiative
CORRUPT POLITIANS TARGET NEVADA INITIATIVE
Dear Friend:
Corrupt elections officials -- who are doing the bidding of Republican
political operatives -- are threatening to keep the Marijuana Policy
Project's initiative off of the November 2 ballot in Nevada. The
following is a long account, but you're not going to believe how badly
our campaign is being sabotaged ...
If approved by Nevada voters, MPP's initiative would remove all
penalties for marijuana use by adults aged 21 and older, as well as
require the state government to authorize a system for the legal
cultivation, distribution, and sale of marijuana to adults. If
enacted, this law would be the first of its kind in the world.
We urgently need your financial support for the monumental -- but
short -- court battle that lies before us. According to MPP's records,
you have not yet made a financial donation to MPP (or the
tax-deductible MPP Foundation) in 2004. Would you please consider
visiting http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate2008 to donate $10 or
more today?
On July 13, in response to communications from a high-ranking member
of the Republican National Committee, the Nevada state government
announced that MPP had turned in only 34,947 valid signatures -- far
short of the 51,337 valid signatures that are needed to qualify our
initiative for the ballot.
The government's signature count is nothing short of corrupt and
illegal. We turned in 66,000 gross signatures on June 15. We know
that 85% of the signatures we submitted in Washoe and Clark Counties
are valid, and we know that more than 65% of the signatures we
submitted in the 15 rural counties are valid.
Washoe and Clark Counties, which include Reno and Las Vegas,
respectively, together comprise 85% of the state's population; not
surprisingly, 85% of our gross signatures came from these two
counties, while 15% of the gross signatures came from the 15 rural
counties. Doing the math, this means that 54,120 of the signatures we
turned in are actually valid, which comfortably exceeds the
51,337-signature requirement.
So how is it that the state government can claim that we fell more
than 16,000 valid signatures short of the 51,337-signature goal?
------------------------------
First, Clark County -- at the urging of the Republicans -- threw out
19,830 signatures because of a previously unenforced "requirement"
that alleges that one voter who signs each petition booklet must fill
out and notarize the affidavit at the back of the booklet.
There are some problems with this new "requirement": (1) the state
had ignored it in previous election cycles; (2) when Republicans
urged the elections officials of all 17 counties to apply this new
"requirement," 16 of the 17 counties rightly ignored the request,
with only Clark County bowing to the pressure; and (3) the AFL-CIO,
whose initiative was also being threatened for the same reason,
succeeded in court yesterday at blocking the "requirement" from taking
effect.
MPP will now jump on the AFL-CIO's coattails and enjoy the same
benefits of their court victory, which means that our 19,830
signatures will be thrown back into the mix.
If you're starting to get angry, please channel that energy by angrily
making a donation at http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate2008
today.
------------------------------
And the legal battle isn't over ...
Clark County elections officials also threw out thousands of
additional signatures from people who allegedly weren't registered
voters. But we know they were properly registered to vote -- because
we registered them and photocopied their voter-registration forms
before turning them in.
We're developing a legal strategy to get the courts to certify that
these signatures are, in fact, valid. If we win this court battle,
our initiative will be placed on the November 2 ballot.
Please help us pay the legal fees for all of this litigation -- which
could cost as much as $50,000 -- by visiting
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate2008 today.
------------------------------
But wait, there is still more malfeasance on the part of government
officials ...
The Humboldt County elections office reported that only 43% of our
signatures in that county were valid. After our campaign pointed out
a series of errors, the elections office adjusted the validity rate
upwards to 53%.
(This is after our petitioners had to send in six different teams to
Humboldt County because the sheriff illegally and repeatedly ran them
out of the county ... and then offered cookies and Gatorade to
petitioners he determined were not working for the marijuana
initiative.)
If you haven't already, would you please visit
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate2008 today? Suing and
checking the work of corrupt elections officials wasn't part of our
original budget or plan.
Will we have to check the work of the elections officials in all 17
counties to ensure that the others aren't malfeasant or incompetent?
Speaking of incompetence ...
------------------------------
To our horror, five days after the June 15 deadline for turning in the
signatures our consulting firm had collected, a box of 6,000
signatures was found in the firm's Las Vegas office. This is why the
gross signature count was as low as 66,000; the consulting firm had
actually collected 72,000 signatures.
We do not yet know whether an employee of the firm inadvertently
misplaced the box and then found it later, or whether the consulting
firm was sabotaged from within. What we do know is that the box was
found sitting on a chair in plain view on June 20.
And, of course, we fired the consulting firm that was responsible for
this mistake.
While it appears likely that our initiative will qualify for the
ballot, MPP is displeased and embarrassed about the 6,000-signature
debacle, which reflects badly on our campaign and MPP as an
organization. And we're disheartened that government officials are
using their power in an attempt to thwart the elections process.
I have laid out all of these details for you because MPP is
straightforward and honest with our members and allies -- especially
when things go wrong.
------------------------------
Even before state government officials announced last week that they
wouldn't be qualifying our initiative for the ballot, everyone in the
media and political establishment had declared our initiative dead
because, typically, only 70% of signatures on initiative petitions are
found to be valid. If 70% had been our validity rate statewide, we
would have ended up with only 46,200 valid signatures -- far short of
the 51,337 that we need.
But we have known all along that our validity rate would be much
higher, because we were so meticulous about ensuring that people who
signed our petitions were actually registered voters. And, indeed,
we've been proven correct; as I mentioned above, Washoe County (which
includes Reno) certified that a record-breaking 85% of the gross
signatures were found to be valid!
We'll be fighting in court for the next three weeks. If you want to
help us in this battle, your financial support at
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate2008 would be very much
appreciated.
With your help, we will continue to fight, fight, fight.
Thank you for taking the time to read this far. I'll send you another
(shorter) update in a week ...
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 110,000
subscribers on this e-mail list will make at least one financial
donation to MPP's work in 2004. According to our records, you have not
yet donated this year. Would you please consider making one donation
this year by visiting http://www.mpp.org/donate2008 today?
As a part of this campaign, we hope that 500 volunteers will each
commit to raising $1,000 from their friends and colleagues, with
another 250 volunteers committing to raise $2,000 each. Please see
http://www.mpp.org/Pioneers to sign up for this campaign. (Since MPP
launched this campaign on May 4, 59 people have signed up.)
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2004 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2004plan -- if you and other allies are
generous enough to donate and/or raise the following sums in 2004:
TYPE OF DONOR ..... $ GOALS FOR 2004 ..... $ RAISED IN 2004
-----------------------------------------------------------
monthly pledgers ........ $52,000 ............ $42,459 ....
less than $1,000 ....... $446,000 ........... $146,794 ....
$1,000 to $1,999 ....... $500,000 ............ $21,245 ....
$2,000 to $2,999 ....... $500,000 ............. $6,500 ....
$3,000 to $24,999 ...... $100,000 ............ $47,706 ....
$25,000 to $99,999 ..... $300,000 ........... $135,000 ....
$100,000 and up ...... $1,600,000 ........... $130,000 ....
-----------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS ............... $3,498,000 ........... $529,705 ....
CORRUPT POLITIANS TARGET NEVADA INITIATIVE
Dear Friend:
Corrupt elections officials -- who are doing the bidding of Republican
political operatives -- are threatening to keep the Marijuana Policy
Project's initiative off of the November 2 ballot in Nevada. The
following is a long account, but you're not going to believe how badly
our campaign is being sabotaged ...
If approved by Nevada voters, MPP's initiative would remove all
penalties for marijuana use by adults aged 21 and older, as well as
require the state government to authorize a system for the legal
cultivation, distribution, and sale of marijuana to adults. If
enacted, this law would be the first of its kind in the world.
We urgently need your financial support for the monumental -- but
short -- court battle that lies before us. According to MPP's records,
you have not yet made a financial donation to MPP (or the
tax-deductible MPP Foundation) in 2004. Would you please consider
visiting http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate2008 to donate $10 or
more today?
On July 13, in response to communications from a high-ranking member
of the Republican National Committee, the Nevada state government
announced that MPP had turned in only 34,947 valid signatures -- far
short of the 51,337 valid signatures that are needed to qualify our
initiative for the ballot.
The government's signature count is nothing short of corrupt and
illegal. We turned in 66,000 gross signatures on June 15. We know
that 85% of the signatures we submitted in Washoe and Clark Counties
are valid, and we know that more than 65% of the signatures we
submitted in the 15 rural counties are valid.
Washoe and Clark Counties, which include Reno and Las Vegas,
respectively, together comprise 85% of the state's population; not
surprisingly, 85% of our gross signatures came from these two
counties, while 15% of the gross signatures came from the 15 rural
counties. Doing the math, this means that 54,120 of the signatures we
turned in are actually valid, which comfortably exceeds the
51,337-signature requirement.
So how is it that the state government can claim that we fell more
than 16,000 valid signatures short of the 51,337-signature goal?
------------------------------
First, Clark County -- at the urging of the Republicans -- threw out
19,830 signatures because of a previously unenforced "requirement"
that alleges that one voter who signs each petition booklet must fill
out and notarize the affidavit at the back of the booklet.
There are some problems with this new "requirement": (1) the state
had ignored it in previous election cycles; (2) when Republicans
urged the elections officials of all 17 counties to apply this new
"requirement," 16 of the 17 counties rightly ignored the request,
with only Clark County bowing to the pressure; and (3) the AFL-CIO,
whose initiative was also being threatened for the same reason,
succeeded in court yesterday at blocking the "requirement" from taking
effect.
MPP will now jump on the AFL-CIO's coattails and enjoy the same
benefits of their court victory, which means that our 19,830
signatures will be thrown back into the mix.
If you're starting to get angry, please channel that energy by angrily
making a donation at http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate2008
today.
------------------------------
And the legal battle isn't over ...
Clark County elections officials also threw out thousands of
additional signatures from people who allegedly weren't registered
voters. But we know they were properly registered to vote -- because
we registered them and photocopied their voter-registration forms
before turning them in.
We're developing a legal strategy to get the courts to certify that
these signatures are, in fact, valid. If we win this court battle,
our initiative will be placed on the November 2 ballot.
Please help us pay the legal fees for all of this litigation -- which
could cost as much as $50,000 -- by visiting
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate2008 today.
------------------------------
But wait, there is still more malfeasance on the part of government
officials ...
The Humboldt County elections office reported that only 43% of our
signatures in that county were valid. After our campaign pointed out
a series of errors, the elections office adjusted the validity rate
upwards to 53%.
(This is after our petitioners had to send in six different teams to
Humboldt County because the sheriff illegally and repeatedly ran them
out of the county ... and then offered cookies and Gatorade to
petitioners he determined were not working for the marijuana
initiative.)
If you haven't already, would you please visit
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate2008 today? Suing and
checking the work of corrupt elections officials wasn't part of our
original budget or plan.
Will we have to check the work of the elections officials in all 17
counties to ensure that the others aren't malfeasant or incompetent?
Speaking of incompetence ...
------------------------------
To our horror, five days after the June 15 deadline for turning in the
signatures our consulting firm had collected, a box of 6,000
signatures was found in the firm's Las Vegas office. This is why the
gross signature count was as low as 66,000; the consulting firm had
actually collected 72,000 signatures.
We do not yet know whether an employee of the firm inadvertently
misplaced the box and then found it later, or whether the consulting
firm was sabotaged from within. What we do know is that the box was
found sitting on a chair in plain view on June 20.
And, of course, we fired the consulting firm that was responsible for
this mistake.
While it appears likely that our initiative will qualify for the
ballot, MPP is displeased and embarrassed about the 6,000-signature
debacle, which reflects badly on our campaign and MPP as an
organization. And we're disheartened that government officials are
using their power in an attempt to thwart the elections process.
I have laid out all of these details for you because MPP is
straightforward and honest with our members and allies -- especially
when things go wrong.
------------------------------
Even before state government officials announced last week that they
wouldn't be qualifying our initiative for the ballot, everyone in the
media and political establishment had declared our initiative dead
because, typically, only 70% of signatures on initiative petitions are
found to be valid. If 70% had been our validity rate statewide, we
would have ended up with only 46,200 valid signatures -- far short of
the 51,337 that we need.
But we have known all along that our validity rate would be much
higher, because we were so meticulous about ensuring that people who
signed our petitions were actually registered voters. And, indeed,
we've been proven correct; as I mentioned above, Washoe County (which
includes Reno) certified that a record-breaking 85% of the gross
signatures were found to be valid!
We'll be fighting in court for the next three weeks. If you want to
help us in this battle, your financial support at
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate2008 would be very much
appreciated.
With your help, we will continue to fight, fight, fight.
Thank you for taking the time to read this far. I'll send you another
(shorter) update in a week ...
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 110,000
subscribers on this e-mail list will make at least one financial
donation to MPP's work in 2004. According to our records, you have not
yet donated this year. Would you please consider making one donation
this year by visiting http://www.mpp.org/donate2008 today?
As a part of this campaign, we hope that 500 volunteers will each
commit to raising $1,000 from their friends and colleagues, with
another 250 volunteers committing to raise $2,000 each. Please see
http://www.mpp.org/Pioneers to sign up for this campaign. (Since MPP
launched this campaign on May 4, 59 people have signed up.)
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2004 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2004plan -- if you and other allies are
generous enough to donate and/or raise the following sums in 2004:
TYPE OF DONOR ..... $ GOALS FOR 2004 ..... $ RAISED IN 2004
-----------------------------------------------------------
monthly pledgers ........ $52,000 ............ $42,459 ....
less than $1,000 ....... $446,000 ........... $146,794 ....
$1,000 to $1,999 ....... $500,000 ............ $21,245 ....
$2,000 to $2,999 ....... $500,000 ............. $6,500 ....
$3,000 to $24,999 ...... $100,000 ............ $47,706 ....
$25,000 to $99,999 ..... $300,000 ........... $135,000 ....
$100,000 and up ...... $1,600,000 ........... $130,000 ....
-----------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS ............... $3,498,000 ........... $529,705 ....