6/20/2008 - Statement on the Petition Challenge to Herb Hoffman
FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2008
CONTACT: REBECCA POLLARD 772-4353
STATEMENT FROM REBECCA POLLARD, SPOKESWOMAN OF THE MAINE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
We feel very positive about the Deputy Secretary of State's report.
We initially challenged the signatures of Mr. Hoffman on several concrete facts. Our first examination of the petitions showed nearly 60 people who had signed the petition twice, in addition to more than a dozen individuals who were not even registered to vote. More importantly, our research showed that Mr. Hoffman would allow others to collect signatures for him while he was not in their presence and then swear an oath saying he witnessed those same signatures. We are very pleased that the Deputy Secretary of State agrees with us on these points.
She agrees with us that 74 signatures on Mr. Hoffman's petitions are invalid, and she confirmed the basis of our legal argument that challenges the validity of the petitions on which Mr. Hoffman swore a false oath-since Mr. Hoffman was not in their presence at the time certain petitions were signed but swore an oath attesting otherwise.
However, the final recommendation did not take into account the full legal implication of invalidating the circulator's oath. Instead of only invalidating the signatures of the individuals who testified, the law is very clear that these entire petitions must be voided because in these instances Mr. Hoffman's oath is invalid.
We have detailed this one flaw in a memo to Secretary of State Matt Dunlap and are confident that once corrected, it will become clear that Mr. Hoffman does not have the required 4,000 signatures to be on November's ballot.
