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In a unanimous ruling Wednesday, the justices reaffirmed the right of people to craft initiatives and seek to have them approved.

鈥淎nd we are reluctant to impede such civic efforts,鈥� they said.

But Justice John Lopez, writing for the court, said there is nothing unduly burdensome about requiring paid circulators to register and provide an address where they can be subpoenaed. Lopez said throwing out the signatures collected by those who don鈥檛 show up in court does not impair the constitutional rights of people to propose their own laws.

Wednesday鈥檚 ruling explains the decision the justices made months ago to block a vote on the 鈥淥utlaw Dirty Money鈥� proposal. But the implications go deeper, providing a legal road map for others who want to challenge ballot measures.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be almost impossible for anybody who doesn鈥檛 have incredibly deep pockets to carry a petition using paid circulators,鈥� said Terry Goddard who spearheaded the measure the Supreme Court knocked off the ballot.

The initiative would have inserted a 鈥渞ight-to-know鈥� provision in the 蜜柚直播 Constitution requiring any group seeking to influence a political race or ballot measure to reveal the identity of anyone who contributed more than $10,000. Organizations that the Legislature exempted from disclosure and would have been forced to identify donors sued, contending there were not enough valid signatures.

Challengers issued subpoenas for 15 circulators, leaving them with a security guard at an office building used by a company that hired the circulators. When none of the circulators appeared at trial, the judge disqualified the 8,824 signatures they collected.

The initiative drive came up short of the 225,962 valid signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.

Attorney Kim Demarchi, representing the initiative drive, challenged the automatic disqualification of the signatures as unconstitutional. She argued that a circulator鈥檚 signatures should be tossed only when there is a 鈥渧alid objection鈥� to the circulator or the 鈥渘eed for a circulator鈥檚 testimony.鈥�

Lopez acknowledged it took a lot of work to gather the signatures.

鈥淲e do not discount the civic activism or the resources devoted to this campaign,鈥� he wrote.

But Lopez said the right of people to propose their own laws and constitutional amendments 鈥渋s, and must be, subject to reasonable regulation of the initiative process.鈥�

And in this case, he said, requiring circulators to appear in court and tossing the signatures they gathered if they don鈥檛 show up it fits within what can be regulated.

鈥淭he statute represents a reasonable means of fostering transparency, facilitating the judicial fact-finding process, including compliance with valid compulsory process, and mitigating the threat or fraud or other wrongdoing infecting the petition process,鈥� Lopez wrote. 鈥淚t furthers the constitutional purpose of the initiative process by ensuring the integrity of signature gathering by reasonable means.鈥�

Goddard, however, suggested the justices got it backwards.

He said the prime concern should be to determine, in whatever way possible, whether an individual鈥檚 signature is valid. Goddard said what the court has ruled is that otherwise valid signatures can be disqualified solely because the person who collected them didn鈥檛 show up in court.

That gets to the issue of the additional financial burden.

鈥淵ou not only have to get valid signatures but then you have to keep the circulator around and have them appear at a hearing or all their signatures are going to be determined invalid,鈥� said Goddard, a former state attorney general. 鈥淚 think that undercuts our citizens鈥� right to petition our government, which is guaranteed in the constitution.鈥�

The justices also rejected the contention that the subpoenas could not be enforced because they were not properly served 鈥� in his case being left with a security guard.

Lopez said requiring subpoenas to be served in person or at a specific office address 鈥渨ould encourage a circulator to register a statutory service address beyond the reach of a process server.鈥� That, said Lopez, would remove the deterrence of circulators to commit fraud because they could never be called to court to account for their actions.

Goddard said that is contrary to court rules that require reasonable efforts be made to ensure people know they have been subpoenaed.