Invalid signatures cloud future of petition for vehicle impound law
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The Aurora Sentinel: A judge has put the brakes on a controversial ballot measure that would have forced police to tow vehicles driven by unlicensed drivers. According to the judge’s ruling, handed down Friday morning, the 5,278 signatures gathered in support of the measure were invalid because the petition did not include the full text of the initiative. The judge’s ruling means the measure, which has met stiff opposition from advocates for illegal immigrants, law enforcement and area auto dealers, might not make it to this fall’s ballot. The ruling came after an Aurora woman, Jacqueline Skene, protested the signatures that Dan Hayes, the Arvada real estate broker pushing the measure, filed with the city last month. “I filed the protest against the initiative because I am very concerned that the proponents misled voters to support a flawed policy through a very flawed process. Unfortunately, these petitions demonstrated both a blatant disrespect for the use of taxpayer funds and a disregard for the rules that protect the voters of Aurora,” Skene said in a statement Friday after the ruling.
The plan, which is similar to a controversial measure approved by Denver voters last year, would require police to impound any vehicle driven by an unlicensed driver. To get the car back, the vehicle’s owner would have to get a valid license and pay a $2,500 bond, plus fines and impound fees. Opponents of the measure say it creates a host of unforeseen problems: tying up officers with lengthy impound paperwork, filling the impound lot with cars worth less than the $2,500 bond and robbing police of any discretion at a traffic stop. And, opponents point out, the ordinance has been such a headache in Denver, police there are reluctant to enforce it. Supporters say the measure would help keep unlicensed drivers, particularly illegal immigrants and people without insurance, from getting behind the wheel.
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