SIGNATURES: Petition sponsors may have set record with ballot-initiative support.
PALMER -- It looks as if opponents of a borough tobacco tax collected enough signatures in three weeks to get a repeal on the October municipal ballot.
Nola Bragg, who leads a group seeking to repeal a roughly $1-a-pack tobacco tax enacted by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly in May, handed in more than 3,600 petition signatures Monday. If at least 1,788 of those signatures are valid (from registered voters who live in the Mat-Su), voters will get a chance to tell the Assembly to repeal the tax.
With a core group of about 24 sponsors and 45 signature booklets turned in, petition sponsors may have set a record in getting support for a ballot initiative.
Mat-Su Borough clerk Michelle McGehee said that, according to her research, no other borough petition has been completed and turned in that quickly in at least five years.
The quick turnaround left some of the petition booklets in less-than-pristine condition. One booklet in particular was filled with stains and more than a few wrinkles. Three had been taken apart so they could be more easily placed on store counters for signing, Bragg said, and a few others had front and back pages ripped away from staples during Bragg's gathering and counting process.
Municipalities generally caution petition sponsors to keep each booklet whole and not to remove staples or pages, McGehee said. But the borough canvassing board, appointed to certify election ballots and ballot initiatives, had previously reached the conclusion that as long as the sponsor signs each page, indicating he or she was present when each person added their signature, the signatures are valid. It'll be up to the canvassing board to make the final determination, McGehee said.
With the booklets in hand, McGehee said her staff will begin creating a database of names of those who signed the petition. Thursday, the borough canvassing board is expected to meet to verify all the signatures.
Bragg said after her push to get the repeal on the Oct. 4 ballot, it's time for a break. But she won't be resting long.
"This isn't the end of it," Bragg said. "The next part is to get it certified, then it's time to begin the push to get people out to vote."
Bragg said she's confident there's a good amount of support for the measure among voters, but she plans to make sure no one forgets.
"It's real fresh in people's minds," Bragg said. "I'll go to APOC (Alaska Public Offices Commission) and talk to them and find out how to do donations for political campaigns. We'd probably better get some signs made up."
Daily News reporter Rindi White can be reached at rwhite@adn.com or 352-6709.
