Newswire
The Nevada Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on a ballot initiative that would outlaw abortions in the state. The group “Personhood Nevada” wants to redefine the law to provide civil rights to the unborn fetus, making it illegal to terminate a pregnancy. The case was appealed after a lower court ruled the petition was too broad and violated state law. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood are trying to stop the initiative, claiming it fails to inform voters that it would affect both abortions and birth control.
One of the great pleasures of living in California is that, comparatively speaking, our alcohol laws and fees are not draconian. We don’t have blue laws, liquor can be sold in normal supermarkets, and there are precious few moratoria on liquor licenses here in the Golden State. Alcohol is freely available and relatively cheap, and yet most people drink responsibly; our percentage of alcohol-caused accidents, for example, is 18th lowest in the nation, tied with Minnesota, North Dakota and Ohio.
The European Commission today (31 March) set out the rules for using a “citizens’ initiative” which allows one million people to ask the Commission to propose new laws. Using the initiative, which was introduced by the Lisbon treaty, will require at least one million signatures from at least nine of the 27 member states. Organisers will also to make sure they get a minimum number of names from each country, based on the so-called digressive proportionality system, which is used to divide up seats between member states in the European Parliament.
Elections are not just about choosing your representatives, political executives, and party standard bearers. Election season is about more than the horse race between Republicans and Democrats. For a large part of the country, election day is an important moment of direct democracy, through ballot initiatives and referendums. The initiative process allows citizens to directly vote on laws and state constitutional amendments.
Roughly 200 people filled the Howell High School Freshman Campus cafeteria Monday to learn how to circulate petitions for a state constitutional amendment to opt out of the new federal health-care law. The meeting was hosted by the 912 Liberty Tea Party of Western Livingston County, and launched the petition drive by the Michigan Citizens for Healthcare Freedom. Michigan Citizens for Healthcare Freedom was spearheaded by Marion Township resident Wendy Day, also a Howell Public Schools Board of Education member and head of Common Sense in Government.
Concerns about the integrity of Maine’s ballot initiative process have prompted action on a bill to tighten the requirements for organizations behind petition campaigns. The House on Monday agreed with the Senate and approved a measure requiring businesses that receive compensation for circulating petitions to register with the Secretary of State.
Supporters of abolishing North Dakota property taxes may begin gathering petition signatures to put the idea on the ballot. Secretary of State Al Jaeger has approved the ballot initiative for circulation. It would change the North Dakota Constitution to eliminate property taxes, starting in January 2012. The Legislature would have to use state taxes to replace the property tax income of local governments, and figure out a way to distribute the replacement money. The measure needs almost 26,000 petition signatures by Aug. 4 to get a spot on the November general election ballot.
A proposed ballot initiative to create a part-time Legislature has failed to make it on the November ballot. Backers say they were unable to raise the money to collect the necessary signatures by a Monday deadline. The plan becomes the third proposed ballot measure aimed at changing how state government operates that has failed to qualify. Two other proposals, one to call a constitutional convention and another to make specific changes in state governance, were suspended because of a lack of funding.
Groups advocating government reform are criticizing Gov. Gary Herbert for making it harder for citizens to create laws by making it easier to have their signatures removed from petitions. The big question now is: will they have enough signatures? A pair of citizens’ petitions — one on ethics, another on redistricting — need nearly 100,000 signatures, but in some districts they’re coming up short. The 2010 elections in Utah could be remembered as the Year of the Big Reform Showdown.
Proposed ballot initiatives to allow California’s state budget to be passed by a simple majority of the Legislature and to allow the state Senate and Assembly once again to draw their own district boundaries have drawn opposition from the California Chamber of Commerce. Both initiatives have been cleared to gather voter signatures but have not yet qualified for the ballot. The “Passing the Budget on Time Act” would reduce the current two-thirds vote requirement for passage of a budget and would require lawmakers to forfeit pay if they failed to pass a budget on time.