Leveling a flurry of charges against the process that initiated the Nov. 6 referendum on Evansville-Vanderburgh County government consolidation, opponents unveiled an attempt today to stop the vote.
Bruce Ungethiem, a leader of Citizens Opposed to Reorganization in Evansville, claims for a variety of reasons that the petition that launched the consolidation drive is invalid.
County Clerk Susan Kirk, to whom Ungethiem presented his complaints, said that she has referred the matter to counsel for the Election Board to determine whether the complaint is a matter for the board or a court.
League President Roberta Heiman said she will review the complaint today, but said the signatures should stand up to scrutiny.
“(Kirk) verified that we obtained the required number of voters’ signatures, and I have every confidence that we did,” Heiman said.
Specifically, the anti-consolidation group says that about 150 petition signatures are invalid, bringing the number below the required 5 percent of voters who cast ballots in the 2006 secretary of state’s race; that the petition did not include the date of the referendum as required; that the League of Women Voters of Southwestern Indiana has members who live outside Vanderburgh County, disqualifying it to initiate consolidation; and that the petition “fails to accurately state the issue for public consideration.”