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SALT LAKE CITY -- With a big deadline looming, the fight over ethics and signature gathering now heads to court, with an emergency request to a judge.
Advocates of ethics reform filed a lawsuit Wednesday afternoon in the ongoing battle over whether a citizens ethics initiative will be on the ballot in November. The lawsuit could be crucial to that campaign's chances.
The group Utahns for Ethical Government says it has filed a complaint in federal court, asking a judge to stop -- immediately -- county clerks across the state from publishing the names and addresses of people who have signed its legislative ethics petition.
Wednesday, members of the group Utahns for Ethical Government were out in force, trying to get the word out about the initiative. Among other things, the ethics measure would set up an independent ethics commission and set strict campaign contribution limits. Currently, Utah has no limits.
The group, which held a honk-and-wave Wednesday morning in Salt Lake City, says it's making the request on behalf of four John Does and four Jane Does, who have signed the petition but don't want their names made public.
In the most recent legislative session, lawmakers -- many of whom oppose the ethics campaign -- passed a bill that streamlined the ability to remove signatures from initiative petitions.
Lawyers for the ethics group say they fear people who signed petitions could be pressured to remove them.
"This happened with vouchers as well. The names were made public. People did experience pressure and negative blowback, and that just wasn't right," said Janet Jenson, attorney for Utahns for Ethical Government. "Voting should be secret, and the integrity of the petition process should be secret."
But one key lawmaker says if voting rolls are public, why go to court to keep signers' names private?
Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, said, "Well, the fact that they don't want people to be able to remove their signatures suggests that they are desperate in getting this on the ballot, and it looks like they are very close or maybe even failing."
Thursday is the deadline for signatures, which county clerks must certify. At that point, someone who wanted to remove their name would have a month to do so.
Ethics advocates need 95.000 signatures statewide, and even they aren't sure if they'll have enough.
A court hearing is set for Thursday morning.
Utahns for Ethical Government has a website allowing citizens to sign the petition online HERE.
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
