BREAKING NEWS: State Silences Voters on Co-ed Bathroom Bill

Sacramento, CA–In a major setback to the voice of voters in California, a Sacramento Superior Court judge ruled this afternoon in favor of a motion by the State to squelch subpoenas that sought records to verify invalidated signatures for the Co-ed Bathroom Bill referendum efforts. 

Brad Dacus, President of Pacific Justice Institute, said, “We disagree with this lower court’s decision, and we intend to challenge it by filing a writ so that we have the adequate opportunity to hold the government accountable for how they invalidated over 130,000 signatures. We know for a fact that egregious errors have been made, and we’ll exhaust all legal remedies in order to ensure every valid signature is counted.”

Of the roughly 620,000 signatures submitted to qualify the referendum, over 130,000 were thrown out. The Privacy of All Students coalition (PFAS) reviewed many disqualified signatures and found that there was abuse of discretion and arbitrary decisions by election officials, as well as disparaging inequalities for those who are blind or elderly. Of note, one of the lead attorneys on this case was surprised to find out his own signature was thrown out because it didn’t match the one on file—something unfortunately plausible as he has gone blind over these last few years and can’t see what he writes with a pen. 

PJI is acting as lead counsel in the case, Gleason v. Bowen.

Pacific Justice Institute is a non-profit legal organization dedicated to defending religious, parental, and other constitutional rights.