Petition To Allow Emergency Personnel To Bargain Collectively Rejected

A petition that would have allowed certain firefighters, ambulance personnel, and dispatchers to have collective bargaining rights failed to get enough valid signatures to make it on the November ballot. One Congressional district came up 226 signatures short of what was needed. Secretary of State Matt Blunt says local election officials threw out more than 5,000 signatures while Blunt’s office rejected nearly 400 more because some of the petition circulators were not registered with hisoffice. Blunt says the pre-registration of circulators helps ensure those who collect the signatures are accountable. Blunt says supporters of the measure have a couple of weeks to appeal his decision.