Brian Murphy, head of the political action committee Democracy in Action, says County officials have made it harder for him to collect the signatures needed to put two marijuana initiatives before voters. They’ve even made it hard for him to register new voters, he says.
Murphy says when he turned in forms for 590 newly registered voters recently, he was told he could only get 300 new forms. He says each voter registrar can only get 300 forms a month now.
“I’m registering people who are in the 18-30 year old age group who haven’t voted before,” he says. “Undermining my ability to get forms is ridiculous.”
Murphy says this is the latest obstacle he has encountered in his attempt to get two initiatives enacted into law. County Counsel Brian Moto has advised County Clerk Roy Hiraga that only the five members of the petitioners’ committee can collect signatures on the initiative.
Murphy originally wanted to have many people collect signatures. He even planned to use a common mainland practice and pay people $1 for every valid signature they collected. Limiting it to just the five people on the committee makes it much more difficult, since most of the five have medical disabilities.
Democracy in Action seeks to collect 10,000 signatures on each of the two petitions. One initiative would tax and regulate medical marijuana use in Maui County, allowing medical users to possess up to 24 ounces of useable marijuana. The other initiative would allow anyone over 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana.
Enacting law by ordinance is tough in Maui County. Organizers need to get 20 percent of the number of voters in the last mayoral election to sign the petition, about 8,000 valid signatures on each petition. If they get enough signatures, the ordinances go to the Maui County Council. If the council doesn’t enact the ordinance, then it goes to the voters.
The initiative process is so hard there never has been a successful initiative drive in Maui County, says Higa.
Murphy says such a burdensome process stifles democracy.
Moto says that isn’t the intent. He says his office must interpret what is written in the Maui County Charter.
“It has nothing to do with stifling democracy,” he says. Other counties in Hawaii have more liberal rules about initiatives, he says. In Honolulu, those who can collect signatures aren’t limited to the petitioners committee.
Moto says his interpretation, which hasn’t been formally issued by his office, turns on Article 11 of the County Charter, specifically Section 11-2.
That section states that any five qualified voters may start initiative proceedings. The key phrase is that they “will be responsible for circulating the petition.” Moto says that means they have to personally see the people sign, although it is far from clear.
“Admittedly it’s difficult to interpret,” he says.
Murphy complains that he has received nothing in writing from the County outlining the reasoning behind the decision. Moto says that his office issues opinions to county departments and elected officials, not the general public. In this case, Hiraga asked for the opinion.
Even with the obstacles, Murphy says he has collected about 2,000 signatures on each of the petitions. Since he anticipates the signatures to be challenged by the government, he and 46 others became voter registrars, officially certified to register voters. Murphy tries to get people to register to vote before they sign the petition, even if they think they are already registered.
He says his group has registered about 1,500 people to vote since he began the drive. In addition to holding an event at the Paia office of Patients Without Time, a medical marijuana advocacy group, Democracy In Action has appeared at the Taro Fest in Hana. Recently they have started sign waving on Dairy Road, near Hana Highway.
At the Dairy Road location this weekend, many cars honked in support and people came in steadily. Murphy says he has heard a variety of reasons why people support the initiative.
“Some just want to be able to get high,” he says. Others want to be able to get an adequate supply of marijuana for medical reasons. But some of the most touching stories have been told by relatives and friends of those who have been devastated by the effects of alcohol and ice, which they turn to if they can’t get marijuana. One of Murphy’s contentions is that the war on marijuana is what has led to the explosion in ice use in the islands.
While Murphy doesn’t like the roadblocks the county has placed in his way, he is also upset with people who jokingly sign the petition with names like Bugs Bunny. He threw out 190 bogus names from a recent drive.
“I threw out six out of 10 names I collected in Paia by Mana Foods,” he says.
Murphy has been working on reforming marijuana laws in Maui County for over a year. He has spent thousands of dollars on newspaper and radio advertising and figures he will have to spend much more.
“It’s going to take $10,000 more to make this work,” he says.
So where does he get the money?
“Most of it comes out of my pocket,” he says. He says the group sells some t-shirts and grinders but the majority comes from him.
Whether there is enough time to get the initiatives before voters this fall is unclear. The petition was officially filed with the County Clerk March 2 , says Higa. According to the County Charter, petitioners have 180 days from then to collect enough signatures.
They then turn it in to the Clerk, who has 45 days to determine if they are sufficient. If they are, he sends the initiative to the County Council, who has 60 days to act on it. If they don’t enact it within 60 days, according to the County Charter, the Clerk shall submit it to the voters for the next general election, if that election is within 90 days. Prior to that the initiative must be printed in a newspaper for 45 days.
If County officials take the maximum time they are allowed, that means in order to get it on the November ballot this year, enough signatures will have to be collected and turned in by the first part of June.
At this point, Murphy is a little bitter about the whole thing.
“It’s easier to vote in Baghdad than in Maui,” he says.