Apr 12, 2007 - 04:08:54 CDT
Supporters of a ballot measure to rewrite North Dakota's laws on child custody and support have run out of time to submit their initiative petition, Secretary of State Al Jaeger says.The measure sought to limit child and spousal support payments and curtailed any punishment if the payments were not made. It required couples to have prenuptial agreements, and allowed either the man or woman to seek an annulment if the woman did not become pregnant in the first two years of the marriage.
North Dakota law says backers of an initiative petition have one year to gather the needed signatures. The clock begins running once the secretary of state approves the document for circulation. Jaeger approved the family law measure on April 10, 2006.
"You can't just have these things go on indefinitely," Jaeger said Wednesday. "For example, in a referendum, you have 90 days to gather the signatures. There's any number of references in the law where you have a deadline, so you just can't keep it open forever."
Roland Riemers, of Emerado, who drafted the initiative petition and was the campaign's chief organizer, said he intended to draft another measure that would be simpler and easier to understand.
Delaying the initiative process also gives the Legislature a chance to address the issues raised by the ballot measure, Riemers said Wednesday in an e-mail message.
"We are giving them that opportunity, and will remove anything in the (ballot measure) that is no longer needed, or is being adequately addressed by them," Riemers said. "This does not ... seem to be happening, but at least we can then argue that we allowed them ample chance to do so."
Riemers' petition needed signatures from at least 12,844 North Dakota voters, which is the minimum needed to put a proposed state law directly to a statewide vote. A proposed constitutional amendment needs at least 25,688 signatures.
The ballot measure was one of two approved for circulation last year that dealt with child support and custody issues. The second reached its signature goal and was put on the November 2006 ballot, where it was defeated, with 56 percent of the voters saying no.
(On the Web: Text of the Riemers initiative, www.nd.gov/sos/electvote/elections/docs/petition4-11-2006.pdf.)
People have Spoken wrote on Apr 12, 2007 9:12 AM:
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