The petitions that were thrown out listed some fake names, signatures from people who later said they did not sign the petition, and at least one “signature” from a Fargo man who died two years ago, Jaeger said Monday.
Jaeger and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said a 23-year-old petition circulator and his 21-year-old girlfriend have been charged with providing false information on a government document. The misdemeanor carries a maximum punishment of a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Jaeger said the problems appeared to be isolated, and he said the income tax measure easily had enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. It had 14,635 valid names, or 14 percent more than the minimum of 12,844 required, he said.
The tax-cut proposal will be listed as Measure 2 on the November ballot, Jaeger said. It seeks to cut North Dakota’s individual income tax rates by 50 percent and its corporate tax rates by 15 percent. Jaeger’s office still is reviewing two other initiative petitions, which would give North Dakota’s governor power to hire the state’s workers compensation director and increase state spending on anti-tobacco efforts.
Stenehjem called the fraud allegations “an affront to the entire initiative and referendum process in the state, and to all of the citizens.”
However, Stenehjem said a Bureau of Criminal Investigation probe found no evidence to suspect other petition circulators.
“The practices were not encour-aged by the sponsoring committee, nor does it appear they were aware that this practice was going on,” Stenehjem said.
Duane Sand of Bismarck,the Republican candidate for North Dakota’s U.S. House seat this fall, is chairman of the initiative campaign. Sand is on leave from his job as North Dakota and South Dakota director for Americans for Prosperity, a Washington, D.C., organization that is backing the measure.
Sand said he was “saddened” by the allegations of petition fraud. Each circulator was briefed and received written instructions on the correct procedures, he said.
“We’re not going to be distracted by it,” Sand said. “We had dozens of circulators, and we trust that most people will do things the right way, in accordance with North Dakota law.”
The North Dakota office of Americans for Prosperity estimates the legislation would save individuals and companies $419 million in income tax payments during the state’s 2009-2011 budget period.
Analysts say North Dakota’s budget surplus is expected to exceed $1.2 billion by June 30, when the state’s current biennial budgeting period ends. Supporters of the income tax cut say some of the money should be returned to taxpayers.
When an initiative petition is submitted to Jaeger’s office, workers review the names, listed addresses and ZIP codes for signs they may not be genuine. Postcards are also sent to 2,000 randomly chosen people who are listed on the petition, asking them if they signed it.
Petitions circulated by the Fargo man, David Paul Stensland, and his girlfriend, Katie Jean Oye, raised warning flags, said Jaeger and Lee Ann Oliver, his elections director.
A number of postcard recipients said they did not sign the petitions, Jaeger said. The handwriting on a number of “signatures” was similar, and ZIP codes were incorrect.
Other signatures and addresses appeared to be jokes, and probably were affixed when the petition was left unattended, Jaeger and Stenehjem said.
North Dakota law requires an initiative petition circulator to witness every signature and sign a statement saying that he or she believes the signatures are valid, and that each signer is eligible to vote in North Dakota.
Stensland and Oye are charged with making a false statement in a governmental matter. Their first court appearances have not been scheduled. They did not have a telephone listing to call for comment, and investigative reports did not include a phone number for them. Stenehjem said he did not know if the couple had an attorney.
Reports of fraud in North Dakota initiative campaigns are rare.
In 2006, six people who circulated an initiative petition to change North Dakota’s child custody laws pleaded guilty to making false statements after they copied names from phone books and filled in names of friends and relatives on their petitions. The six received deferred sentences.
An initiative campaign to limit the terms of state and local public officials was thrown out in 1994 after an investigation discovered widespread fraud in signature-gathering. A number of petition circulators did not meet the requirement of being eligible to vote in North Dakota, the investigation found.
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