Off To Defend The Constitution

by Johnny Gunn

In an open letter blind mailed to every news outlet in the Silver State (See Below), Secretary of State Dean Heller tries to justify his position as chief elections officer of the state. Basically, he is only defending himself, while just a few weeks ago he had an opportunity to defend something far more important than his own personal feelings.

The initiative petition right of citizens in this country dates back to the founding fathers, the Constitution of the U.S., and more importantly, the Bill of Rights, detailing those rights. While petitioners were being hassled, escorted off public property, even arrested and jailed, our chief elections officer was mute. There are no conflicting ideas, rules, judgements, or laws to consider. It is simply stated, the right of the citizen to petition his government shall not be abridged. It was.

In the opinion of The Nevada Observer, Mr. Heller overall has done a good job while in office, particularly in beginning a statewide voter registration list, one in which dead people will rarely have an opportunity to vote, as happens frequently in our rural counties. Heller has done a good job in getting the entire voting process brought into the 21st Century, but it is our opinion he thinks too much of his own image and too little of something as major as a citizen being arrested for doing what the constitution guarantees.

As we've stated before, this is not a partisan political question. This is a question of basic American rights and values. It took a district court judge in Clark County to step forward, and with constitution in mind, do the right thing. The petitioners in question were given an extra amount of time, and even then, a government entity tried to stop them.

Again, Mr. Heller did nothing. Even if his answer is, "I can't do anything," by law, he can sure as hell stand on his hind legs and howl at the moon at the injustice of the situation. For American citizens to go to jail for doing what the constitution decrees, it seems to us at The Observer, it would be in the best interest of the chief elections officer to become rabidly angry.

Because of extra time given, it appears as though the petitions in question will find their way to the ballot this November. Maybe now would be a good time for a legislator or want-to-be lawmaker to come forward with some legislation that would allow the Secretary of State to forcefully demand that the election rights of Nevada's citizens are fully protected.

This was a shameful experience and should never be repeated.

Secretary of State Dean Heller In His Own Words

An Open Letter To Nevada

Now that District Court Judge Bill Maddox has declared that disqualified signatures relating to several petitions should be counted, thereby qualifying those petitions—Raise the Minimum Wage and Stop Frivolous Lawsuits—for the 2004 General Election ballot, I’d like to clear up a couple of points that have been made erroneously in media reports and by backers of these petitions.

Judge Maddox used the phrase, “the, ‘boy, is that stupid’ test applies here.” I might instead paraphrase the political line from the early 90’s, “It’s the Constitution, stupid!” Much has been said and written about the mistaken “fact” that the signatures were deemed invalid due to a “procedural flaw” or because of regulations established by the Secretary of State’s office. As I have stated several times, in making the decision to not count the signatures in question, I followed the Nevada Constitution, Article 19, Section 3(1), which states in part:

The petition may consist of more than one document, but each document shall have affixed thereto an affidavit made by one of the signers of such document to the effect that all of the signatures are genuine and that each individual who signed such document was at the time of signing a registered voter in the county of his or her residence.

The statement made by some of the backers of the petitions that the decision by me and the Attorney General’s office was an attempt to “stop the will of the people” is not only baseless but downright ridiculous. The facts are simple: (1) We followed the constitutional requirement, (2) when the problem was discovered, I asked the Attorney General’s office to provide my office with legal guidance due to the apparent dilemma surrounding the Nevada Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding signature gathering on petitions, (3) I informed the petitioners that I welcomed and supported an appeal of that legal opinion, and (4) I informed the petitioners that unless and until I rendered a decision on the validity of the signatures in question based on the legal advice I received, a court would not be able to intervene in the issue. Further, whose “will of the people” is being referenced? The will of the people who established that section of Nevada’s Constitution in 1962 through a ballot question, or the will of the people who signed these particular petitions?

In my view, the Nevada Constitution is not a fast-food menu that you pick and choose from. In fact, I must say that I find it interesting that some members of the media and others seem to believe that I should not have adhered to the law established in the Nevada Constitution, but rather should have rendered a decision based on what I thought was the “intent” of the constitutional requirement. As I remember, many of these same members of the media railed against the Nevada Supreme Court concerning their decision relating to the two-thirds majority constitutional requirement regarding tax increases when the Court bypassed the Constitution and decided to interpret what they thought the people really meant. I can only conclude that these members of the media and backers of the petition who chastised me for following the Constitution feel you should only do so in certain situations or when that decision fits their purpose or opinion.

Respectfully,

DEAN HELLER

Secretary of State

Correction

In our June 1, 2004 edition, we mistakenly put Assembly District #41 in the wrong county. Assembly District 41 is in Clark County. Those seeking the District 41 seat are:

David Parks, Democrat, Incumbent

Patricia Saye, Republican

Christopher Hansen, IAP

The Nevada Observer regrets any confusion this may have caused.