Citizen Blog

Two statewide elected officials seem at odds over the petition process in Missouri. Jason Kander, the Show-Me State’s new Secretary of State, just implemented an online program that displays initiative proposals as soon as they are filed, allowing the public a five-day comment period before the secretary of state and the state auditor must complete their ballot summary and fiscal statement, respectively.

In the past, initiative proposals were not posted on the secretary of state’s website until after a ballot summary and fiscal note were written, so citizens had no comment period at this stage in the process.

Yesterday, the Washington Secretary of State’s office reported that Initiative 517 had passed the obstacle of signature validation on the 346,906 signatures submitted on petitions. The measure was certified as having 272,425 valid voter signatures after the state performed a check on a random sampling of 3% of the signatures. More than 78.5% of the signatures in the sample were verified giving the initiative a cushion of more than 30,000 valid signatures over the legal requirement.

The Idaho Legislature seems to be following the Maryland Legislature’s lead with the same knee-jerk reaction, seeking to legislatively block future referendums after several appeared on the ballot last November. The key difference is that Maryland voters approved the legislature’s enactments in three referendums last November, while Idaho voters reversed the legislature for the first time since the 1930s, overturning three laws concerning education policy.

California’s League of Women Voters is hosting an event to discuss possible reforms of the state’s initiative and referendum process this Friday, Jan. 25, at a library in Carlsbad, California. The League’s longstanding opposition to the initiative process seems to be expressed in the title, “Do We Have to Take This Much Initiative?”

The Washington State group, Voters Want More Choices, has set up a website to promote Initiative 517. The site, yeson517.com, carries the tagline, “I-517 puts the citizen back in the citizens’ initiative,” and features various resources, such a video of a recent TV interview and story on the measure.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, House Speaker Michael Busch and Senate President Thomas Miller say they are overwhelmed by voter referendums “every time someone doesn’t like one” of their decisions. These powerful politicians don’t make idle complaints; they’re threatening new legislation to make signature gathering for a referendum, or what is often called a “People’s Veto,” much more difficult.

The governor argues that the petition process has “probably been made a little too easy.”

The Washington Retail Association recently expressed misgivings about the protections for petitioning found in Initiative 517. Last year, the group of retailers praised the initiative process based on their strong support for I-1185, which required a vote of the people or a two-thirds legislative majority for any tax increase, but on the heels of activists turning in nearly 350,000 signatures last week to put the initiative reform measure on this November’s ballot, the WRA argues that allowing petitioners to gather signatures outside their establishments may be going too far.

One of the proponents of Washington State’s Initiative 517 and retired president of Citizen Solutions, Eddie Agazarm, drafted a letter which can serve to answer opponents to portions of I-517’s protections. It follows:

Eddie Agazarm, co-sponsor of Initiative 517 which puts the citizen back in the citizens’ initiative.

A group of Republican Party notables has filed an initiative seeking to change the way Utah political parties nominate their candidates. The initiative would allow candidates to put their names on primary election ballots by either winning a vote at a party convention or by petitioning their way onto the ballot, but would mandate that a party’s nominee be chosen at the primary election.

Yesterday, supporters of Initiative Measure turned in 345,000 signatures to the Secretary of State in Olympia, Washington, to put the measure on the November, 2013 ballot.

Tim Eyman, the state’s most prolific initiative proponent and leader of Voters Want More Choices, addressed the media at a news conference following the submission. Eyman was joined by Paul Jacob, president of Citizens in Charge, the initiative’s largest financial backer, and Edward Agazarm, former head of Citizens Solutions, a petition management firm.

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New Eyman initiative would protect petitioners

Thursday, January 3, 2013 sees the first ballot initiative of the New Year turned into the Washington State Secretary of State’s office.

The collected signatures for Initiative Measure No. 517 will be turned in at the Union Building in Olympia, Washington by Tim Eyman, Eddie Agazarm and Paul Jacob.

“[Petitioning is] a guaranteed First Amendment free speech right and it deserves protection,” said Eddie Agazarm of the initiative, which would also extend the time allotment for signature gathering and guarantee that issues petitioned will be voted on, provided enough signatures were gathered.

“The first power reserved by the people is the initiative.”

So promises the Washington State constitution.  However, it is increasingly difficult for citizens to exercise their power to petition the government, as also provided for in the U.S. Constitution.

Initiative 517, which will turn in petition signatures next week in hopes of earning a place on the November 2013 ballot, seeks to protect the right of Washington State citizens to their initiative process.

In Colorado, a group of self-described civic and business “leaders” are launching an effort to create an unelected state commission, which would be armed with the power to review Colorado’s constitution and place sweeping new constitutional amendments on the ballot – including measures that could propose wholesale revisions of the current state constitution.

 

Micah Hurd, a 23-year-old college student living in Arlington, Texas, recently found himself the center of controversy.  After President Obama’s reelection in November, Hurd started a petition on the White House’s official petition website, “We the People,” proposing that the Lone Star State of Texas secede from the United States.  This normally would not cause a fuss, as many individuals in many states did the same after the President’s reelection.

Michigan’s Legislature enacted “Right-to-Work” legislation this week, sparking renewed debate about public policy regarding unions. Here’s a quick review of recent ballot measures having to do with organized labor.

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Ohio “State Senate Bill 5” Veto Referendum, Issue 2 (2011)