Reclaim Idaho has just filed an expedited motion to enforce the U.S. District Court's order in its case, and certify its initiative to increase school funding in Idaho for an up-or-down vote by Idahoans on the November ballot.
"Defendants have made it clear that they do not intend to comply with either option that the Court ordered them to choose," attorney Deborah Ferguson wrote in the court filing. "In light of their extraordinary response, Reclaim Idaho requests that the Court order Defendants to certify the initiative for the November ballot."
The judge gave Idaho Gov. Brad Little and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney two choices, and a deadline of this past Friday at 5 p.m. to pick one or the other: Either certify the initiative for the ballot now, with roughly half the required signatures already collected to qualify it; or give the group another 48 days of signature gathering and allow electronic signature-gathering for safety in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state responded that it would do neither.
"The other option would require a 'process and protocol' to complete the requested 48-days of online gathering of signatures," Ferguson wrote in the motion. "Defendants’ clear response shows that they have no intention of cooperating with Reclaim Idaho or complying with the Court’s order. For that reason, Reclaim Idaho respectfully requests that the Court order Defendants to certify the initiative for the November 2020 ballot. Defendants have already indicated that they will seek Ninth Circuit review and such an order would put a definitive remedy before the appellate court."