Anti-taxpayer funded ballpark petition has fewer names than expected | Baseball

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – The group behind a petition against
using taxpayer money for a baseball stadium in Wilmington is facing more
hiccups in the verification process.

They were told Friday they were about a dozen signatures
short of the 2,842 needed. Now, it turns out they may have even fewer
signatures than originally thought.

Several pages of the submitted petition had wording at the
top that indicated the signatures were for a completely different issue - that voters have to approve any city expense of more than $15 million, but never mentioned sports or baseball.

Those
pages were tossed out of the mix, so the group is about 45 signatures short.

Chris Libert is one of the names that was thrown out. He thought he was signing something that had nothing to do with baseball and was shocked when people started calling him after seeing his name on WECT for signing the petition.

"I know that there's a lot going on with this
with the stadium, but I think it's good for Wilmington," said Chris Libert. "Hopefully
the people in charge will reduce the taxes on the tax payers, but I think it is
good to enhance our community."

After looking over the copy he signed, Libert said he could see how the wording could relate to baseball, but he would not have signed anything to stop the ballpark from coming to town. He said it's important to read the fine print if someone comes to your door asking you to sign something.

"It teaches you that you have to be careful about what you sign," said Libert.

NHC Board of
Elections Director Marvin McFayden said the petition is still considered open. If someone signed the petition not realizing what they were signing, they could write the board and their name will likely be removed.

According to City Attorney Bill Wolak,
organizers can continue to submit names for the petition as long as they wish.
They will have to get enough verified signature by August 1 in order for the
issue to make the November ballot.

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