Ban is prohibited
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Re “Taking the initiative,” Letters, Nov. 15
A letter writer, responding to our Nov. 10 Op-Ed article about California’s ballot initiative process, suggests that California should forbid paid signature gathering to limit the influence of big money on propositions.
A flat ban on paying signature gatherers, while perhaps appealing, has been prohibited as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court as a violation of free speech
Oregon has banned payment per signature, and its law was upheld by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. However, we don’t believe its law accomplishes much because circulation companies can set quotas and fire people if they don’t meet requirements to gather a certain number of signatures in a set period.
Robert Stern
Tracy Westen
Los Angeles
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