Stooges of the payday lenders filed a specious challenge against Initiated Measure 21, the real 36% rate cap, on January 27. I filed a challenge against Amendment U, the payday lenders’ fake 18% rate cap, on February 3. Melissa Mentele, sponsor of what would have been Initiated Measure 24, on medical cannabis, challenged the rejection of her ballot measure petition on March 3.
Secretary of State Shantel Krebs responded to the medical marijuana petition rejection challenge on March 6 with the surprising statement that her office would recount the petition signatures. Beyond that, Secretary Krebs has offered no public statement on the status of the three challenges to her office’s ballot measure petition decisions.
Today we get one little smoke signal: Krebs spokesman Jason Williams tells Bob Mercer that the Secretary of State is “hoping to have them completed within the next three weeks.”
Today is May 11; three weeks puts us at June 1. Any parties dissatisfied with any of the Secretary’s decisions will have one day short of eleven weeks to file and win a court challenge before August 16, the statutory deadline for the Secretary to “deliver to each county auditor a certified copy of each initiated measure, referred law, or proposed amendment to the Constitution to be voted on at the election” (see SDCL 12-13-1).
One might think that Ms. Krebs, who is slightly hyper-active, would have already cranked these things out by now unless she’s delaying for some political machinations. One would also hope that she just throws out all the dumb initiated measures, even though 18% is half of 36% and weed is bad, it is bad.
Just figured out who Grudz is…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh7l8dx-h8M
gruznik da plant is good dude! this is sick! da plant helps me with hedakes. we nede it!!!!!!!!
It is beginning to appear that the Secretary of State is leaning in the direction of partisanship in the performance of her duties.
Mr. Newland, she has a written down plan and is following it.