Postal service temporarily suspends petition ban

Just days after the U.S. Postal Service was sued for enforcing a ban on signature-gatherering at post offices, the two sides in the case have reached an interim agreement that will limit the scope of the legal action and permit a speedy trial on the merits, an attorney for the petitioners said Monday.

Under the agreement, the plaintiffs have dropped their request for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction. In exchange, the Postal Service will no longer ban signature gathering for ballot initiatives at post offices-at least through July 31. Under the agreement, a trial will be scheduled for a date prior to July 13.

"What we have done is establish the right of our client and their signature gatherers to use postal property in the manner it has traditionally been used for," said John Ferguson, an attorney with the law firm Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman, which is representing the plaintiffs. "We're pleased the government has agreed to stay enforcement until a determination is made on the merits. We hope the matter can be promptly resolved."

The Initiative & Referendum Institute, a nonpartisan group that serves as a clearinghouse for ballot-access issues, brought the suit, along with Art Spitzer of the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area, Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the United States and Paul Jacob of U.S. Term Limits.

The plaintiffs had cited the policy's impact on free speech and the democratic process, contending that it "severely limits the ability of citizens around the country to place issues before their fellow voters," according to a statement released last week.

The plaintiffs say the ban is most problematic in rural areas, where few public spaces exist to collect signatures, and where the rights of signature-gathering on private property-such as retail stores-are being similarly squeezed.

The plaintiffs said last week that they had filed the temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction because the deadlines for qualifying initiatives for the fall ballot were fast approaching in many states.

The Postal Service has long barred private charitable solicitations and electoral campaigning on its premises. But a Postal Service policy put into effect June 25, 1998 prohibits "soliciting of signatures on petitions, polls or surveys on postal property except as otherwise authorized."

This week's agreement does not lift limitations on signature-gathering to place candidates on the ballot.

In an interview, Initiative & Referendum Institute president M. Dane Waters said, "I think the very positive sign is that the Postal Service seems to realize the impediments their regulation had placed on the process, which is why they have chosen to temporarily rescind it." Still, Waters added, "we still have a long way to go. The case is far from over and we still have to make our case in court."

Marina Braswell, an assistant U.S. attorney representing the Postal Service, said in an interview that the agreement "streamlines the process so that we don't have to go through several briefings. We will be getting a resolution to the case much more quickly this way."