Petition to repeal equal rights ordinance falls short, mayor says (Houston) [View all]

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Source: Houston Chronicle

Opponents of Houston's new non-discrimination ordinance did not get enough valid signatures to force a November repeal referendum, Mayor Annise Parker and City Attorney David Feldman announced Monday.

"With respect to the referendum petition filed to repeal the 'HERO' ordinance, there are simply too many documents with irregularities and problems to overlook," Feldman said. "The petition is simply invalid. There is no other conclusion."

The council approved the ordinance on an 11-6 vote in May. Opponents who took issue with the protections extended to gay and transgender people under the ordinance promised to send the issue to the voters. On July 3, they claimed to have delivered more than 50,000 signatures to the city secretary's office.

Opponents need a minimum of 17,269 valid signatures - 10 percent of the ballots cast in the last mayoral election - to put a referendum on the November ballot. Last week, City Attorney David Feldman warned that some of the petition gatherers were not registered Houston voters. If a person who gathered signatures was found not to be a registered Houston voter, all the signatures he or she gathered could be invalidated, Feldman said.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/politics/houston/article/Petition-to-repeal-equal-rights-ordinance-falls-5667654.php