Archives for February 2010
Citizens around the country are clamoring for more of a voice in their government. They are tired of being dictated to from Washington, DC and state capitols around the country. Populist sentiment is building, and one state that illustrates that quite well is Connecticut. John Woodcock III is the chairman of the Connecticut Citizens for Ballot Initiative, a group that is pushing to bring initiative & referendum rights to the citizens of Connecticut.
Today, Citizens in Charge, a transpartisan national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, presented testimony urging Maryland legislators to restore the state’s referendum process by passing Senate Bill 240. Additionally, the group suggested amending the bill to give the Board of Elections latitude in verifying the identity of the registered voter.
The following appeared as an op-ed in Monday’s Connecticut Post:
CPAC 2010 turned out well for Citizens in Charge Foundation. The Government Gone Wild theme was a huge hit; the t-shirts, state grades reports, and information flew off the table at our booth. The government indeed has gone wild, and citizen initiative rights are one of the best ways to get it back under control.
We will likely be ordering more of the Gov’t Gone Wild t-shirts, so make sure to stay tuned to our website for more information.
In Alaska, House Bill 36 says it will make the state’s initiative process more transparent and open. It always seems that when those two words start flying out of the mouths of government officials the results will be anything but open and transparent.
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Yesterday afternoon the Missouri Senate Elections Committee passed Senate Bill 818 out of committee by a vote of 6 to 1, many weeks ahead of where similar legislation was last session.
The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas has filed suit against the city of Big Spring on behalf of the Concerned Citizens Council, whose petition was rejected last month. A reaction to the city council’s violation of Texas public meeting law last month, the suit seeks to void a meeting in which a tax rollback petition was rejected.
British recording company EMI has put Abbey Road Studios - where rock legends The Beatles recorded most of their albums and singles - up for sale, and fans have started an online petition to keep the building a recording studio.
It’s that time of year again….CPAC 2010 has arrived. Citizens in Charge Foundation is a co-sponsor of the conference again this year.
We’ll be at booth #605 in the exhibition hall, so come by and get a tshirt. This year our theme is Government Gone Wild! The best way to protect yourself from out of control government is to support citizen rights, and that means supporting the petition process. With a stronger and more open petition process citizens will be able to keep their government in check with initiatives and referenda.
California voter Michael Ni’s signature on a statewide petition could “reshape American politics forever.” That is because Ni’s signature, which was delivered on a flash drive to the San Mateo County clerk last week, is the first in history to be recorded and transmitted to elections officials electronically. You can read the whole story here.
A college student in the state of Washington may have found a way to get youth to vote. A Washington State University junior is looking to get a measure on the ballot to lower the drinking age in the state from 21 to 19. I would imagine it won’t be too hard for him to get signatures at colleges around the state.
