Referenda

Winners and Losers In Initiative Land

Joe Mathews — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:51:00 -0500

Winners:

Political reform. In California, the big longshot -- redistricting reform, which has a near perfect record of losing at the ballot -- came in. Prop 11, which strips the legislature of the right to draw state legislative districts (Congressional districts were exempted) -- passed. It's a stunning win (and one your blogger predicted would not happen). This redistricting measure is a modest reform, but the victory suggests that political reform on the ballot may be possible -- at least if there isn't much of a campaign against it. Look for future measures on open primary and perhaps other reforms. And in Colorado, Prop 54 -- which had little money and faced a huge, expensive, labor campaign againts it -- also appears to have scored a triumph. The measure is a tight ban on "pay to play." If a company or union has a contract with the government, it can't give money. Labor leaders here in Denver last night say they will challenge it in court.

The initiative process. Voters turned down the greatest in the country to the initiative process, Arizona's "majority rules" measure, which would have established a near impossible standard for passing an initiative: a majority of all the state's registered voters (not just the voters who show up on election day). Measure O, a legislative referendum to make it more difficult to qualify an initiative to change the state constitution, also went down.

Farm animals. On a crowded California ballot, Prop 2, an initiative to regulate how farm animals are treated, passed overwhelmingly. The initiative's sponsor, the Humane Society of the United States, is all but certain to qualify similar measures in other initiative states.

Losers:

Marriage equality. Bans on same-sex marriage passed in Arizona, Florida, and, most disappointingly in California. The bans likely will be challenged in court, and in California, there may be a chance of overturning it. A 4-3 majority of California Supreme Court said there was a constitutional right to such unions back in May. There needs to be some real soul-searching about how the No on 8 effort was conducted. The no effort appeared to be well ahead in the polls a few months out, but lost ground with a confusing campaign that also seemed to antagonize religious people.

The pro-life movement. Attempts to restrict abortion went down to defeat in California, Colorado and South Dakota.

Billionaires. Peter Sperling and T. Boone Pickens poured big money (well at least big money for the rest of us) into poipular sounding renewable energy initiatives in California: Props 7 and 10. But both went down to defeat, badly.

Affirmative action. A ban on affirmative action, one of two initiatives backed by Californian Ward Connerly to make a state ballot, won in Nebraska. A similar measure trailed narrowly in Colorado. The race is so close there could be a recount.

More Referenda, Fewer Initiatives

Joe Mathews — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:52:00 -0500

Sunday in the Sacramento Bee, I wrote about my idea for reforming California's direct democracy. The piece is here. It's part of a weekly feature called "The Conversation." Please contribute your own thoughts on the idea. At root, the idea is to make it easier to qualify referenda -- ballot measures to block an act of the legislature -- for the ballot, and make it harder to qualify and pass initiatives. The idea is to make initiatives, which are common, rare, and to make referenda, which are rare, more common.

Be sure to read not just my piece but the three pieces the Bee solicited to respond to it. The one from Rick Hasen, a prominent election lawyer, details the most common objection from reformers. They don't like the initiative process, but they see it as the only way to enact their reforms. My view is that very little political reform takes place by initiative. In fact, reform has usually been set back by initiative (I don't consider term limits progress--it certainly didn't improve the quality of governance in my state). Please let me know what you think.

Turnout Apologies

Joe Mathews — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:45:00 -0400

BERN, Switzerland -- As a group of journalists and I (all of us cover direct democracy) make our way around this country by train and by bus on our way to a conference Wednesday, we keep meeting Swiss who boast -- politely -- about their direct democracy. They describe it as frustrating, problematic, but also as essential part of their political culture. There's one topic, however that they seem sheepish about: voter turnout.

It's low, very low. In Sunday's referendum and initiative elections in the canton of Zurich, the nation's largest, voter turnout came in at just 35 percent. And Denise Meyer, an election official there, described that as typical. In Uri, where direct democracy is a passion, a top canton minister described a turnout of 45 percent as pretty good.

The Swiss offer some excuses, but the problem seems to be that their direct democracy is so common a part of life, it doesn't inspire voters to the polls. Swiss voters often cast ballots as many as four times a year on referenda and initiatives. High turnout elections usually only involve high-profile issues -- anything having to do with getting the traditionally neutral country closer to Europe. Otherwise, most people stay home. The Swiss certainly make it easy to vote -- by mail, by email (and sometimes by text message, though I'll have a post later on the problems with this). and at the polls -- but making it easy doesn't bring folks out. Even here, it's the heat of controversy -- not civic duty -- that seems to drive turnout. Or to put it another way, a majority of Swiss seem to have a permanent case of voter fatigue.

Bolivia's President Plans Yet Another Referendum

Joe Mathews — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:04:00 -0400

Bolivia has become the globe's most referendum-happy state. Provinces there have been holding referenda on greater autonomy from the central government. Earlier this summer, President Evo Morales remained in office after surviving a referendum. Now Morales, who is engaged in a struggle with those provinces over his plans to make the economy more socialist, is putting his proposals to the public in a Dec. 7 referendum. If he wins, he may see provinces leave the country. And that could lead to civil war.

Arizona Mess Heads To Court

Joe Mathews — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:23:00 -0400

No fewer than six measures that may or may not be on Arizona's November ballot now face legal challenges. The Republic provides an overview.

Utah Republicans Attempt To Restrict Direct Democracy

Joe Mathews — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:07:00 -0400

In states such as California, where Democrats control the legislature and most elected posts, Democratic leaders often rail against the use of direct democracy and work to prevent measures. Republicans paint themselves as supporters of initiatives and the people.

In Utah, however, the political dynamic is different -- and the parties have different positions. After seeing a school voucher bill and other legislation reversed by referendum, GOP legislative leaders are trying to restrict use of the referendum. And the state Democratic party has made the protection of direct democracy a top priority. The Desert News has more.

The Psychologists Vote On Torture

Joe Mathews — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:33:00 -0400

Referenda are not conducted only by governments. Even professional associations hold them. And the American Psychological Association is holding its very first, and on an important public topic: whether psychologists may participate ethically in interrogations at Guantanamo. Members are voting now. An NPR story on this is here.

IRI Surveys The State Ballots

Joe Mathews — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:27:00 -0400

USC's Initiative & Referendum Institute has released their excellent and thorough review of ballot measures across the country. The headline is the number of measures involving social issues. The file is a PDF attachment to this post.

From Our Foreign Bureaus

Joe Mathews — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:16:00 -0400

MANCHESTER CONGESTED: Manchester, England, is preparing to hold a referendum on a plan to establish a congestion pricing system for traffic in the city. Such plans, which charge motorists on a sliding scale based on the traffic conditions and time of day, have gained favor in Europe and are being talked about in the U.S., most notably in New York City.

MINDANAO REFERENDUM: Muslim rebels and the Philippine government have agreed to hold a referendum in Mindanao to allow citizens there to determine whether they want to become part of the county's existing Muslim autonomous region, according to news reports.

ECUADOR CONSTITUTION: The referendum on a new constitution for Ecuador is set for Sept. 28. The document has provisions that likely will produce more votes in the tiny South American country. Under the new constitution, the president would be able to ask voters to dissolve Congress, and the Congress would be able to ask voters to kick out the president.

A Revenue Promise Unfulfilled

Joe Mathews — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:11:00 -0400

In February, Californians voted to ratify four of the state's compacts with indian tribes that operate casinos. The public vote was part of a referendum forced by union leaders who argued that the compacts did not have enough protection for workers. But supporters of the compacts, including tribal and legislative leaders and Gov. Schwarzenegger, told voters the compacts would produce big money that would help balance the budget. As the Press Enterprise shows in this story, that hasn't happened.