Ninth Circuit: Reclaim Idaho signature drive can continue

SANDPOINT — Reclaim Idaho can collect electronic signatures for its education initiative following denial by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals of Idaho’s request to halt a district court ruling allowing the group to collect signatures online.

In the brief, just-over-a-page ruling, the three-judge panel denied the request for a stay but expedited the appeal setting a deadline for opening briefs next week on July 17 with answering briefs due by July 29. Optional reply briefs are due Aug. 3.

“No streamlined extensions of time will be approved,” the circuit judges wrote in the ruling. “No written motions for extensions of time … will be granted absent extraordinary and compelling circumstances.”

The state had asked for the stay pending its appeal of U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill’s decision that Reclaim Idaho could collect electronic signatures for its initiative. In his ruling, Winmill said the state had violated the group’s First Amendment rights by failing to provide for a safe means of signature collection in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the appeals court scheduled a hearing on the merits of the case for August, Thursday’s decision paves the way for volunteers to collect signatures online immediately.

Winmill had ordered the state to meet and confer with Reclaim Idaho and agree to a plan for electronic signature collection by Thursday, July 9. Absent an agreement, the judge said he would allow Reclaim Idaho to implement its own plan to collect electronic signatures provided it meets “highest available standards.”

As a result of the Ninth Circuit decision, Reclaim Idaho co-founder Luke Mayville announced that Reclaim Idaho was moving forward to finalize its system, and would begin collecting signatures online early next week.

“After weeks of work and multiple discussions with the state, we’ve developed a detailed, industry-standard plan for the collection of electronic signatures in compliance with the judge’s order,” Mayville said. “We’ve made every effort to solicit the state’s feedback and adjust our design accordingly. We’re confident the system in place will indeed meet the highest available standards for electronic signature gathering.”

Winmill’s order gives Reclaim Idaho 48 days to collect signatures electronically starting July 9.

Reclaim Idaho’s “Invest in Idaho” K-12 funding initiative is designed to increase funding for K-12 education by $170 million annually. The initiative would restore the corporate tax rate to 2000 levels and calls for a modest tax increase on personal income over $250,000 per year for an individual and $500,000 per year for a married couple.

Due to the health risks posed by the outbreak of the coronavirus, Reclaim Idaho suspended its signature drive on March 18 — 43 days before the official deadline. By that date, the campaign had collected over 30,000 signatures and qualified five legislative districts.

Reclaim Idaho’s lawsuit argued that the campaign had built the momentum required to qualify the initiative for the ballot had it not been for the pandemic and the governor’s stay-at-home order.

“Had Reclaim Idaho been able to continue, there is no doubt in my mind that we would have successfully met the state requirements needed to see this put on the November ballot,” Bonner County volunteer leader Linda Larson wrote in a declaration submitted to the court as part of the group’s effort to continue gathering signatures online.

Caroline Lobsinger can be reached by email at clobsinger@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @CarolDailyBee.