Former chief justice delivers 16,000 signatures to governor’s office urging veto on initiative bill

A former chief justice of the Idaho Supreme Court delivered a petition with 16,000 signatures to Gov. Brad Little’s office asking that the governor veto a bill that would add more requirements for Idahoans to get an initiative on the ballot, according to a press release from Conservation Voters for Idaho.

Senate Bill 1110, which passed its final legislative hurdle on Wednesday, would require organizers of a ballot initiative to collect signatures from 6% of voters in each of the state’s 35 legislative districts. 

Current law requires signatures from 6% of voters in 18 legislative districts.

The bill still needs to be approved or vetoed by Little before it becomes Idaho law.

“People are concerned about Senate Bill 1110, which will make it almost impossible to get an initiative or referendum on the ballot,” said former Chief Justice Jim Jones, during a press conference Thursday at the Statehouse.

Signatures on the petition represent people from 200 Idaho towns, according to the press release.

“It’s not a fight between the rural voters and the urban voters,” said Jones, who served as chief justice from 2015 to 2017 and Idaho attorney general from 1983 to 1991. “It’s a fight between the people and the lobbyists. We want the governor to veto this legislation.”

Little vetoed a similar bill the Legislature passed in 2019. That bill cut the amount of time allotted to Idahoans to gather signatures for a ballot initiative and required more signatures from voters in more legislative districts.