Meyer v. Grant
United States Supreme Court
486 U.S. 414 (1988)

- Written by Joe Cox, JD
Facts
Colorado required advocates of a ballot initiative to submit the measure to the State Legislative Council and the Legislative Drafting Office. After a title, summary, and submission clause were prepared, there was a six-month period to obtain a required number of signatures for the initiative to appear on the ballot. The required total number was not less than five percent of the total number of voters from the prior preceding general election. Colorado required that the petition circulators be registered voters and that they sign statements verifying the signatures collected. Colorado also prohibited paid circulators. Ballot-initiative advocates for a change to the Colorado constitution sought a vote on removing motor carriers from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission’s jurisdiction. Paul Grant (defendant) was one of these advocates. After the title, summary, and submission clause were completed, the advocates feared they would not have time to obtain enough signatures before the election. They thus filed suit against Colorado Secretary of State Natalie Meyer (plaintiff), arguing that the prohibition against paid circulators violated their First Amendment rights. The trial court found that the prohibition against using paid circulators did not burden the advocates’ First Amendment rights, because the limitations did not impair the advocates’ expression or ability to place initiatives on a ballot. The court also found that the state had interests in not allowing paid circulators: namely, ensuring that initiative measures actually had sufficient public support and eliminating the temptation for paid circulators to pad petition statistics. An appellate court reversed, finding First Amendment implications in the limitation on the ability of petition circulators to spread ideas and in the limitation on the pool of possible petition circulators. Meyer appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Stevens, J.)
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