How CA's anti-trans coalition will spin it, should they lose (*and they should)

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11/22/2013

by Jeremy Hooper

With the referendum signatures just beginning to be counted, California's so-called "Prviacy For All Students" coalition is already teasing out the idea that some shenanigans might be threatening their potential. This comes from their latest email blast:

In the week and a half since PFAS submitted 620,000 signatures to the various counties, a number of curious events have been reported. And these could jeopardize the count.

Signatures collected in the 90 day qualifying period needed to be submitted to counties based on the residency of the signer. With 58 counties, some of the petitions were delivered in person while others were sent by overnight delivery. Multiple counties have reported that they did not receive any petitions at all. Only when confronted with the receipts of delivery did the petitions appear. In one county, delivery was initially refused.

It is possible that these incidents and others are merely the consequence of bureaucracy, and that there is no reason to assume that the petitions were unprotected or vulnerable. But it is also possible that PFAS will have to fight to assure that each signature is protected, respected and counted. With a 115,000 signature margin, it is hard to imagine that enough signatures could be lost, invalidated or otherwise uncounted as to make the referendum fail to qualify. But PFAS is prepared to fight to assure that every signature is counted, and that the rights of those who signed the petitions are protected.

To be clear, most counties appear to be respecting the process and are acting professional and polite. Yet, it may only take the inappropriate actions of a few to threaten the qualification of this referendum.

In the days since PFAS submitted the petitions, PFAS has transitioned from an effort to collect thousands of signatures to an effort to assure that every signature is counted. And once again we need your help.

PFAS will monitor the counting process as much as we are allowed and we are preparing for legal challenges if necessary. And we are coming back to those of you that were generous during the initial qualifying period and asking you to donate once again to guarantee that we will be able to fund the battle to assure that each signature is counted.
FULL: Rights versus Wrong [PFAS]

A 115,000 margin is actually not so huge. People sometimes sign petitions just to get the petitioner out of their hair or even to trip up the other side, using fake info in either case. Other times, a non-registered voter signs it, not realizing that registration is a requirement. There are also those who sign a name on someone else's behalf or those who sign the wrong petition for the wrong county, both of which lead to immediate invalidation. Etcetera, etcetera. This is why all coalition wants a HUGE overage. 115k isn't that huge.

Will PFAS qualify? Perhaps. But if they don't, it won't be fraud, even though that's what they will surely claim. This email is pretty much a crystal ball for that future of faux victimization.

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