Monthly Archive for Initiative and Referendum
Initiative and Referendum Stories Posted in September 2008
Federal judge strikes down Nev. ballot measure law
Category: Initiative and Referendum · State: Nevada · Source: San Jose Mercury News
A federal judge on Monday threw out Nevada's initiative petition requirements that attempted to compensate for different population sizes in urban and rural counties. U.S. District Court Judge Philip Pro in Las Vegas said the rules are unconstitutional and ordered Secretary of State Ross Miller not to enforce them. The ruling was not expected to affect the general election in November, when four ballot questions will be put to Nevada voters, down from about a dozen citizen initiatives that were either withdrawn by their backers or scrapped by the courts for failing to meet other requirements. Monday's ruling struck down the so-called "County Population Rule," which forced petition-gatherers to obtain signatures from 10 percent of voters in each county, rather than 10 percent statewide. The raw number of signatures required is based on turnout from the previous general election. The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the complaint along with the Marijuana Policy Project and four individuals, complained the law gave signatures from rural voters more power than those of urban voters.
Paul Jacob Featured in Accuracy In Media Video
Category: Initiative and Referendum · State: · Source: Accuracy In Media
Rell favors constitutional convention
Category: Initiative and Referendum · State: Connecticut · Source: Connecticut Post
The controversial statewide effort to hold the state's first Constitutional Convention since 1965 got a boost on Friday when Gov. M. Jodi Rell said she favors the November-ballot issue. She said it would be a good way to create a new initiative-and-referendum law to allow voters to use the ballot box to change government and force votes on new laws, as is done in states like California. The anti-abortion Family Institute of Connecticut Action said Friday that Rell's endorsement is good news in the weeks before Connecticut voters see the ballot question on Nov. 4. But House Majority Leader Christopher G. Donovan, in reaction to the governor, said voters have the power to remove lawmakers every two years and that the constitutional issue is being used by fringe groups to try to force unpopular positions upon the state. Rell was just finishing an impromptu news conference with reporters in the Capitol complex Friday afternoon when she was asked a final question on whether she favors a Constitutional Convention. "Yes, I actually do," Rell said. "But I also think that we should have some type of controls on a Constitutional Convention so that we don't have an excess, if you will, of a number of types of frivolous types of amendments being offered year after year."
Ballot measures the Mackinac Center would support
Category: Government Accountablilty · State: Michigan · Source: Detroit Free Press
The Michigan Supreme Court ruling that keeps the Reform Michigan Government Now proposal off the ballot has focused attention on the ballot measure process itself. RMGN — rejected by the court for technical reasons — was extraordinarily bad public policy, but that doesn’t mean citizen-led initiatives are bad. The right ballot measures would let voters bypass legislators who are unwilling or unable to fix Michigan’s urgent problems. Here are eight ballot measures that would each offer voters a single, honest, straightforward opportunity to fix the fundamentals. A Right-to-Work Measure. A right-to-work law means that employers cannot agree to fire a worker for not supporting a union. While unions would retain their monopoly bargaining status, right-to-work protection would be a sure step toward workplace fairness and state economic recovery. From 2002 to 2007, Michigan lost 5% of its jobs while the 22 right-to-work states increased their payrolls by 9%. State Spending Limitation. Allow state spending to increase, but only in proportion to growth in population and inflation. If a version of this plan had been in effect, it would have returned about $8 billion to Michigan taxpayers between 1995-2007 and built a $2.5 billion rainy day fund. Universal Education Tax Credit. This option would leave intact the constitutional prohibition on vouchers while allowing parents to choose the safest and best public or private schools for their children. The tax credit would be available for income earners, property owners and businesses that support the education of a child attending the school of his or her choice. The credit would be limited to half of the state’s per-pupil spending allotment, which we estimated would have saved the state’s School Aid Fund more than $500 million in the 10 years prior to 2008.
Eyman wins court battle with county over ballot issue
Category: Initiative and Referendum · State: Washington · Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Fresh from a court victory Thursday, initiatives guru Tim Eyman predicted defeat in November for a ballot proposal he opposes that would make it harder to amend the King County charter by initiative. "They just put a stake in the heart of this thing," Eyman said. "There's no way the voters will vote for this now." The measure -- itself a charter amendment -- would double the number of signatures that initiative backers need to collect to bring proposed charter amendments before voters for ratification, raising the total from a number equal to 10 percent of the votes cast in the previous election for county executive to 20 percent. But the ballot wording chosen by county officials to describe the measure didn't say the requirement would be increased: It would have simply asked voters if they wanted to adopt a new amendment procedure with a 20 percent signature threshold.
Ref O benefits from support of heavy hitters
Category: Initiative and Referendum · State: Colorado · Source: Face The State
Dozens of state organizations and elected officials have endorsed Referendum O, a measure that proposes to transform Colorado's ballot initiative process. Under current state law, there is no difference in the process between putting a statutory measure or a constitutional amendment on the ballot. Ref O seeks to change this. According Rep. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, special interests have no reason not to put something in the constitution. “If they’re going to the trouble of collecting signatures, spending money in the media to get a "yes" vote for their campaign, if there is no difference between statutory and constitutional, they’re going to go for a constitutional measure,” she said in a Face The State podcast. Ref O would alter the process between statutory and constitutional measures by changing signature-gathering requirements, mandating that campaigns gather signatures from each of the state’s seven Congressional districts. It would also increase the number of voter signatures needed for a constitutional change to 6 percent of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election, up from the current requirement 5 percent, or just over 76,000.
Other Monthly Archives for Initiative and Referendum
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