The campaign to collect signatures in order to qualify a ballot initiative for the 2010 election has officially started. On Monday, November 16th, Love Honor Cherish launched Sign For Equality, an online site dedicated to gathering enough signatures to place an initiative on the ballot in November of 2010 which, if successful, will repeal California’s Proposition 8.
The site offers Training Videos, ways to organize and find teams locally and downloadable petition and signature forms. While the website offers the resources, signatures cannot be gathered online or through email, all signatures must be obtained in person, pen to paper. Gathering of signatures will not be driven by major gay groups as has happened in the past. This campaign will rely on an all volunteer army of signature gatherers, working locally on their own or in teams. This appears to be a much smarter approach, rather than a select group of volunteers standing post at shopping malls.
In order to be eligible to be placed on the ballot next year, 700,000 valid signatures are required. Since there are always signatures which are disqualified during the approval process, about 1,000,000 signatures need to be gathered. The deadline for signatures to be gathered and submitted is APRIL 5TH, 2010.
The approved language of this ballot initiative is the following…
We, the undersigned, registered, qualified voters of California, residents of __________ County (or City and County), hereby propose amendments to the Constitution of California and petition the Secretary of State to submit the same to the voters of California for their adoption or rejection at the next succeeding general election or at any special statewide election held prior to that general election or otherwise provided by law. The proposed constitutional amendments read as follows: This amendment would amend an existing section of the California Constitution. Existing language proposed to be deleted is printed in strikeout type. Language proposed to be added is printed in underlined type.
Section 1. To protect religious freedom, no court shall interpret this measure to require any priest, minister, pastor, rabbi, or other person authorized to perform marriages by any religious denomination, church, or other non-profit religious institution to perform any marriage in violation of his or her religious beliefs. The refusal to perform a marriage under this provision shall not be the basis for lawsuit or liability, and shall not affect the tax-exempt status of any religious denomination, church or other religious institution.
Section 2. To provide for fairness in the government’s issuance of marriage licenses, Section 7.5 of Article I of the California Constitution is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 7.5. Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Marriage is between only two persons and shall not be restricted on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.
If you plan to help the campaign, be advised that there are strict guidelines for forms and signatures gathered. Signatures can be disqualified if all procedures are not followed, so please visit Sign For Equality and read all the details.
