Lawsuit challenges disqualification of signatures seeking referendum on California’s Co-ed Bathroom Bill; one signature is that of attorney supporting the peition

The Pacific Justice Institute, as part of the Privacy for All Students coalition, has filed suit challenging the disqualification of more than 131,000 signatures for the referendum efforts against the Co-ed Bathroom Bill. The suit asserts that thousands of signatures—including that of a PJI attorney and more than enough to place the referendum on the ballot—were unlawfully thrown out by election officials.

Brad Dacus, a frequent Faith on Trial guest and president of PJI, said, "It's unfortunate when the Secretary of State and other election officials in their official capacity treat a referendum effort as a partisan debate. It is not. It's about letting the voice of the people be heard. We want to make sure every signature is counted, and every voice is heard."

The suit seeks to have the Secretary of State Debra Bowen certify the referendum for the November 2014 ballot. It notes that election officials have unlawfully disqualified signatures, causing thousands of voters to be disenfranchised.

This isn't the first time that relief had to be sought in the courts against Bowen. In December, Pacific Justice was part of the legal team that filed suit against Bowen for refusing to count any of the signatures in two counties claiming that they arrived after the deadline. Judge Allen Sumner ordered that the signatures from the two counties be counted.

One of the signatures currently disqualified one is that of PJI Attorney Matthew McReynolds. The reasoning was based on the fact that his signature did not match a prior one on file—something plausible as McReynolds has become blind over the last few years.

AB 1266, the law these referendum efforts seek to overturn, would require all public schools in California to allow self-identified transgender students to choose the bathrooms and locker rooms they want to use, as well as the sports teams they want to join, regardless of their anatomical sex or objections by others.