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Stories Posted on October 17, 2008
Irony 101: Az ballot measure would limit ballot measures
Category: Initiative and Referendum · State: Arizona · Source: Tuscon Citizen
Proponents of a ballot measure to restrict ballot measures call it a financial necessity. Opponents say it would deliver a near-crippling blow to a form of direct democracy that Arizona has used since it became a state.
Proposition 105 on the Nov. 4 ballot would make it so that no initiatives that raise taxes or require new spending could take effect unless they're approved by a majority of all registered voters.
That presents a much higher hurdle than the current requirement that an initiative get approval from a majority of voters actually casting ballots. And it's one that legislative analysts say no Arizona initiative in the last decade would have cleared.
A national expert on initiatives and referendums said the Arizona measure would cut down the approval rate and probably even discourage some activists from even launching initiative campaigns in the first place.
"Voters get fewer choices," said John Matsusaka, a University of Southern California law professor of business and law.