The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its ruling today on Nader v. Brewer, 06-16251, striking down Arizona’s residency requirement for petition circulators, as well as its early deadline for submitting signatures for independent presidential candidates.

The decision came in a 3-0 vote and struck down the ban on out-of-state circulators based on logic that would apply equally to any type of petition.

This is a great decision for those of us who support the initiative process—and particularly for the Oklahoma 3, who are charged with violating such a restriction in Oklahoma. A legal challenge to the Oklahoma restriction is currently pending before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The decision effectively ends residency requirements for all the states within the 9th circuit (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington state) and increases the liklihood of the U.S. Supreme Court eventually agreeing to rule on such restrictions.

Read the full court opinion.

This is a great day for the friends of citizen democracy!