Smith v. Fontes/make Elections Fair

Summary

The court held that the statutory signature-counting formula was unconstitutional as applied to the initiative because double counting invalid signatures effectively increased the constitutionally fixed 15% signature threshold. Without the double counting, the initiative would have qualified for the ballot, but the court affirmed dismissal of the challenge because the initiative had already been rejected by voters and the trial court's judgment was independently supported by the constitutional ruling. The court also concluded that the same restriction infringed the proponents' First Amendment rights.