A PROMISE TO KEEP: 5%
A Ballot Committee of
Citizens for Limited Taxation & Government
PO Box 408 * Peabody, MA 01960
Phone:(617) 248-0022 * E-Mail: cltg@cltg.org
Visit our web-page at: http://cltg.org
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*** Promise Update ***
Monday, January 26, 1998

NEWS RELEASE
January 26, 1998

RE: INCOME TAX ROLLBACK INITIATIVE PETITION
Contact: Chip Ford (978) 538-3900

"Temporary" Income Tax Rollback Petition:
Alive, Well, and Moving Ahead!

The rumors of our demise are highly premature. After beating back the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) and TEAM last week, we are on our way to the 1998 ballot.

This is the way it works:

1. When an initiative petition has more than the required 64,928 certified signatures, it is qualified to move toward the next statewide ballot. On December 3rd, Promise filed more than the required number, so we were winning, albeit by only 81 signatures.

2. Opponents of a petition may file challenges to the city/town clerks’ certification of certain signatures. MTA and TEAM challenged 4,000 of our signatures. After a two-week hearing before the state Ballot Law Commission, they were awarded only 437 -- even though they had a team of four lawyers and we had one, the indomitable Steve Epstein! Counting the 81 signatures we had over the requirement, we are presently down by only 356 signatures.

3. Proponents of a petition may file challenges to the city/town clerks’ rejection of certain signatures deemed not to be of registered voters. Proponents do not use the Ballot Law Commission, but must go directly to Superior Court.

This week Promise will file a request to add signatures we have identified as those of registered voters that *should have been* counted by city/town clerks last fall, but weren’t. Using a copy of the Secretary of State’s *Central Voter Registry* database and city/town voter lists, as of this writing co-director Chip Ford and volunteers across the state have identified over 1,500 signatures, and they will add even more in their ongoing project by the time we go to court.

In past ballot campaigns, such as the repeal of Rent Control and Fair Ballot Access, proponents have picked up enough signatures in Superior Court to proceed to the next statewide ballot and win. The winning Epstein Legal Team—Steve Epstein and our volunteers—intends to do the same.

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You can e-mail A Promise to Keep: 5% at --> cltg@cltg.org
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