Election

Back on track
A federal judge has ruled that people who obeyed state government rules on circulating ballot petitions did the right thing.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge James Mahan will send three petitions to the Nevada Legislature and then (if the lawmakers fail to approve them) on to the 2006 ballot.

Signature gatherers had followed instructions from state officials and county clerks in gathering enough signatures to total 10 percent of the number of people who voted in the 2002 Nevada general election. After they turned in their signatures, the Nevada Attorney General’s Office said the petitioners made a mistake by following official rules and should have used the 2004 election, not 2002, as a benchmark. Under the new rule, all three petitions failed.

One of the petitions involves marijuana use, and two deal with tobacco use.