The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the State of Arizona over a 2014 law that challenged signatures collected for petitions, according to the Arizona Daily Independent.
The regulation calls for circulators who are paid and from outside of the state to make good on court subpoenas if there were any issues with the signatures they gathered. If they’re MIA, the signatures are ultimately thrown out.
While Jessica Miracle, along with people who signed petitions, circulators, sponsors, and other related entities, challenged the law in 2019, the appeals court has now refused to axe out the policy. The judges ruled that circulators don’t actually face any adverse impact or injury from simply being called on to justify or confirm the signatures.
They added that the circulator does have the option to make the court appearance telephonically, or can even challenge the subpoena.
Plus, since the plaintiffs waited five years to take legal action, the judges said it was nearly a moot point considering the amount of time the law has been in place.
