Signature-drive sponsors can remain anonymous, appeals court says

Source: Los Angeles Times

A federal appeals court struck down California election requirements that require backers of proposed ballot measures to reveal their identities on signature-gathering petitions.

In a 2-1 decision, a U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled Monday that the 1st Amendment permits initiative sponsors to remain anonymous while contacting voters.

“Voters who wish to know the identities of official proponents need only make a trip to the City Clerk’s office or search for the publication of the petition in their newspapers of general circulation,” Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, a Reagan appointee, wrote for the majority.

... The majority said that by requiring sponsors to disclose their identities, the government was unconstitutionally regulating their speech.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-anonymous-petitions-20140616-story.html