Minimum-wage initiative fails

Friday, July 9, 2004 | 4:58 a.m.

July 9, 2004

CARSON CITY -- The initiative petition to boost the minimum wage in Nevada by $1 an hour has failed to gain enough signatures to put the question in the ballot, Secretary of State Dean Heller said Friday.

Because of a legal technicality, the petition fell 2,618 signatures short of the required 51,337 names required for an election to amend the Nevada Constitution.

And the same legal deficiency may negate the petitions for initiatives involving possession of marijuana, stropping frivolous lawsuits and reducing insurance rates.

The pay petition, if approved by the voters twice, would have boosted the minimum wage to $6.15 an hour and would have provided for yearly cost of living increases.

It was backed by the Nevada State AFL-CIO. Danny Thompson, executive director of the labor organization could not be reached for comment.

Heller said several documents turned in to Clark County Voter Registrar Larry Lomax did not include a valid affidavit signed by a registered voter who had signed that particular document. Heller said that is required by the Nevada Constitution and later confirmed in a ruling by the Nevada Supreme Court.

Because they did not meet that requirement, 13,994 signatures submitted in Clark County were disqualified.

That meant that the petition did meet the condition that there must be 10 percent of the registered voters signing in 13 of the 17 counties. The only counties where the supporters did not meet the condition were in Clark, Douglas and Esmeralda counties and in Carson City.

Heller had asked for legal advice from Attorney General Brian Sandoval when the issue of the affidavits arose. The secretary of state said there were possible conflicts between a Nevada Supreme Court decision and a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Victoria Oldenburg replied today to Heller telling him, "It is the recommendation of this office that the secretary adhere to the requirements of the Nevada Constitution."

Heller said, "While I understand that the public signed these petitions in good faith, unfortunately, the requirements of Nevada law were not followed, thus causing 13,000 signature to be disregarded, rendering the minimum wage petition as insufficient."

Heller said the status of the three other petitions will not be known until Monday.