A federal judge has ordered Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read to allow a Klamath Falls woman to submit without fee or signature gathering, an argument to the Oregon Voters' Pamphlet against a gas tax measure that will be on May primary ballots. (Photo courtesy of Oregon Department of Transportation/Flickr)
A federal judge on Wednesday ruled in favor of a Klamath Falls woman who argued the state violated a federal disability rights law by requiring she quickly submit 500 signatures or pay $1,200 to get an argument against a gas tax referendum into the Oregon Voters’ Pamphlet before Thursday.
Mary Martin, 73, lives on a fixed income and uses a wheelchair, making it difficult to afford the fee or quickly gather signatures against Measure 120 — an increase in taxes and fees to pay for transportation — ahead of the March 12 deadline for inclusion in the pamphlet, she said in her lawsuit filed March 5 against Secretary of State Tobias Read.
The pamphlet sent by the Secretary of State’s Office to Oregon voters statewide details candidates and causes that will be on ballots in the May primary.
U.S. Circuit Court Judge Michael H. Simon, an Obama appointee, in a Wednesday hearing on the case verbally ordered Read to let Martin submit her argument against the measure for inclusion in the pamphlet by Thursday without paying the fee or gathering the signatures.
Simon declined to grant Martin the class status she requested, meaning the ruling applies only to her.
A decision expected Wednesday in another related case in the Marion County Circuit Court could upend Simon’s, however. The plaintiffs in the case who led the gas tax referendum effort are asking the judge to rule that Senate Bill 1599 violates the state’s constitutional referendum protections, due process and fair election principles.
Simon acknowledged things were moving fast and his decision could be moot by day’s end. But, he said, “It’s not fair for me to sit on this issue to see what he does there,” of the Marion County judge. He promised to produce a written order by the end of the day.
His verbal ruling came after less than an hour of oral arguments from Martin’s attorney Ryan Adams, of Silverton-based Fir Law Group, and the state’s attorney Jacob Reisberg, at the District Courthouse in Portland. Martin did not attend the hearing.
The state argued that by offering two options to Oregonians hoping to have access to the voters’ pamphlet, paying a fee or collecting votes, the state met federal disability law requirements around discrimination and access.
But, Simon said, because the state had offered so little time to take advantage of both pathways for people with mobility challenges, it did discriminate against them. Able-bodied people have access to two pathways in the truncated timeframe, while people with disabilities have only one, he said.
“Under normal circumstances, we don’t even have a problem under the ADA, if there is enough time to take advantage of the second option the state is offering: gather 500 signatures,” he said, referencing the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Martin participated in the gas tax referendum, “contributing hundreds of valid signatures over a 60-day period despite her physical limitations,” according to her lawsuit. She lives on a $1,400 per month Social Security income and “cannot afford the $1,200 fee required” to pay for access to the voters guide.
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