National
Voters around the country are increasingly demanding that politicians be held accountable for their actions and campaign promises. Compared to initiative & referendum, recall efforts are rarely used, but over the last year or so they have been increasingly used to get rid of unresponsive politicians:
Last fall our partner organization, Citizens in Charge Foundation, co-sponsored five regional events put on by the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD). The events brought together activists, concerned citizens, and policymakers with professionals in the dialogue and deliberation community to exchange best practices ideas on how to fix the discrepancies between what citizens see happening in public policy and their communities and what they think should be happening.
If you haven’t already, make sure to check out our new video about what Citizens in Charge and Citizens in Charge Foundation have accomplished along with the rest of the citizen rights movement.
As air travelers continue to voice their discontent with the Transportation Safety Administration’s invasive new security procedures, Washington DC’s Metro transit system has instituted random bag searches, and many travelers are just as unhappy about the “Security Theater” on the train as in the airport.
Employees of various agencies and interest groups appeared before the Washington state Senate Government Relations Committee last week to complain that spending on initiative campaigns had increased over the last ten years. They claim voters are being foolish and swayed by big money, and that more regulation and restriction of the process is needed. The attacks on citizen rights led at least one lawmaker present, Sen. Pam Roach, to point out that it was improper for the state’s Public Disclosure Commission to “vilify the system”.
If you haven’t already, make sure to check out our new video on YouTube. It’s a quick look at some of what we’ve accomplished over the last two years, thanks in large part to your help.
As we look to more success in 2011, here’s a look at some of what we’ve accomplished over the last two years. Of course we couldn’t have done it without your help.
Here’s a look at some of what we’ve accomplished over the last two years.
Our poll on support for recall is still open, so if you haven’t voted yet please do.
Here’s how the current breakdown stands for our poll:
Weigh in with your opinion on recall!
In addition to placing initiative & referendum measures on the ballot, citizens in many towns, cities, and states may also recall an elected official by collecting petition signatures. If enough signatures are collected, a vote is held to determine whether that official is removed from office and a new one is elected.
How would you describe your level of support for citizens being able to recall an elected official?
- Support
Our partner organization Citizens In Charge Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is currently accepting applications for 2011 internships. We are looking for undergraduates, grad students and recent grads from all majors as well as law students.
The 2010 election saw citizens all across the country voting on well over 100 different ballot measures in nearly every state. While the midterm elections are now over, our work to protect and expand initiative & referendum rights around the country continues.
Today, millions of citizens are voting on over a hundred different ballot measures across the country. Some of them are citizen initiated, some are legislatively referred. While we here at Citizens in Charge prefer that the citizens get to place their own measures on the ballot, we are happy that citizens get a voice through the legislatively referred ones as well.
If you’re interested in seeing what’s on the ballot check out this roundup from FoxNews. You can also check out BallotPedia, a great central location for all the ballot initiative news and information you can handle.
Last week Citizens in Charge Foundation - a partner organization to Citizens in Charge - sent a letter to Secretaries of State and Attorneys General in 12 states asking them to stop enforcing unconstitutional restrictions on ballot initiative rights. In light of recent legal action in which Kansas officials agreed with petition advocates that the state’s law against petition circulators from other states was unconstitutional, Foundation President Paul Jacob asked officials to “do the right thing” and stop enforcing similar