ADF defends Md. voters’ right to be heard on gender identity law
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4461
ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND NEWS RELEASE
April 3, 2008 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom
ADF to defend Md. voters’ right to be heard
ADF attorneys say petition in Montgomery County should not be thrown out
BALTIMORE — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a motion Wednesday asking a Maryland court to allow voters to defend a petition being challenged by advocates of homosexual behavior even though the signatures have already been certified. A citizen voter coalition collected substantially more than the required number of signatures for the referendum petition, which gives voters their right to be heard on a county bill that extends special legal protections based on “gender identity.”
“In America, every citizen’s voice counts. The signatures on these petitions are valid, so these citizens should not be denied the right to have their vote count in an important referendum,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks. “In Maryland, the people are the ultimate legislative authority and they must be heard.”
The group Equality Maryland filed suit to challenge the petition process and various signatures shortly after the Montgomery County Board of Elections certified them. ADF attorneys filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit, Doe v. Montgomery County Board of Elections, on behalf of Citizens for Responsible Government to protect the interests of the voters of Montgomery County.
“No evidence has been presented to show that any of the signatures are invalid or that these registered voters should not take part in the democratic process,” said Nimocks. “The political agenda of an activist group cannot be allowed to disenfranchise the voters of an entire county. The referendum simply allows the people of Montgomery County to decide the issue, but apparently Equality Maryland doesn’t want the people to be heard.”
A copy of the motion to intervene filed with the Maryland Circuit Court for Montgomery County is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/CCFRG-MTI.pdf.
ADF attorneys recently appealed a decision in Oregon preventing voters there from exercising their right to vote on a “domestic partnership” law (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4417).
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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More information on the referendum is available at www.notmyshower.net