Ballot Initiative

Denver ET Initiative Revised

Joe Mathews — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:50:00 -0400

Jeff Peckman, the author of the municipal ballot initiative to establish an extraterrestrial commission in Denver, has revised his initiative. The commission will have seven members, not 11, and members no longer have to be Denver residents. In the interests of recruiting those with UFO expertise, the ET commissioners can be from "anywhere in the universe." Peckman tells the Rocky Mountain News: "We've set the bar higher for the people that would be on the commission." Yes, but it says here it's not enough. Wouldn't limiting the commission to just "people" deprive us of alien expertise. Perhaps another revision is in order, Mr. Peckman.

A Palin Vulnerability

Joe Mathews — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:09:00 -0400

Governors are not supposed to use the state government to advance their side of a political campaign. And Alaska governors, under state law, are not supposed to take sides in ballot initiatives. But Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, appeared to do both those things in a recently concluded ballot initiative campaign you'll likely be hearing more about.

Measure 4, which went down to defeat in last Tuesday's Alaska elections, would have put new regulations on mining -- it was aimed at one particular mine -- in the name of clean water. Whatever its merits, it's clear that the state's Department of Natural Resources, which Palin supervises, set up a web site and had staff advocates against the measure. And Palin, as a point of "personal privilege," came out strongly against the measure. Expect to see Democrats and the press make much of this. The issue is a twofer--Democrats will use it to argue that she doesn't support the environment AND is not the good government reformer she's been billed as.

Connerly Throws In The Towel In Arizona

Joe Mathews — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:16:00 -0400

Backers of Ward Connerly's anti-affirmative action initiative on Friday abandoned their lawsuit to try to get the measure on the ballot. It had appeared to have enough to qualify, but was kicked off the ballot because of an unusually high rate of invalid signatures. The supporters of the measure were going back through signatures in Maricopa County, but ran out of time to go through all of them, in part because the county was providing them only two computers to do the work. They say they'll try again in 2010.

I'd be surprised if they can get the money. Connerly and his supporters have proven incapable of getting the basics of qualifying initiatives right. He had originally planned to have a similar initiative on the ballot in five states. But he has failed in three states, and his initiative in Colorado is in trouble. The only state he's made the ballot? Nebraska.

Arizona Can't Print Its Ballots

Joe Mathews — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:13:00 -0400

Here's the latest in the signature gathering mess that has consumed Arizona, knocking initiatives on the ballot that appeared to have qualified: a judge has blocked state and county officials from printing the November ballots.

The order came as a result of a legal challenge to the state's decision to remove Ward Connerly's anti-affirmative action initiative from the ballot. The Initiative's sponsors have gone to court, arguing that some signatures declared invalid are in fact valid. The judge hearing that case issued the order, saying that Connerly's backers deserved the chance to make their case that the initiative should be restored to the ballot.

The Celebrity Endorsement Season Begins

Joe Mathews — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:18:00 -0400

The most fundamental problem for California initiative sponsors is: how to get the public's attention? The ballot is typically crowded each cycle with several complicated measures. (13 so far this November). The print media is in sharp decline, with fewer reporters and less space to cover such measures. And TV news is a cesspool of crime and celebrity.

What to do? Many sponsors have fixed on the same strategy: endorsements from Hollywood celebrities. And unlike in candidate campaigns, where the candidate has to lead the campaign, the celebrity endorsers often become the public face, appearing in ads and at press conferences. In many cases, the campaigns trade on the vast public knowledge about the celebrity and even their troubles -- diseases, addictions, etc. -- in way that matches the message of the campaign. In a November election, the celebrity season usually begins about Labor Day, when initiative campaigns typically begin public events and TV advertising.

Yesterday saw the first big endorser: Martin Sheen is backing the "No on Prop 5" effort, the LA Times reports. The initiative would expand funding for drug treatment and divert more drug offenders from prison into treatment. Sheen, whose own struggles with alcoholism and whose son has battled drug addiction, has a clear public profile on the issue. And he's an old pro at initiative campaigns. He opposed Prop 36, a similar measure approved by voters in 2000.

The Robo-Calls Begin

Joe Mathews — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:56:00 -0400

UPDATED: 3 PM. Or maybe not. A consultant for No on 7 says they don't have robo-calls and this wasn't one. The call I received -- on my cell phone, at 9:46 p.m. -- doesn't match the script for the Yes on 7 robo-call. So this must have been -- something else....

ORIGINAL MSG: Just received one opposing Prop 7, which would require utilities to produce half their power from renewables by 2025. The measure is opposed by utilities, but the recorded voice claims that the measure is cooked up by the same people who gave us the electricity crisis in California six years ago. As I recall, the utilities supported the legislation that gave us that crisis.

Here's a New One: Prop 2 Supporters Sue Themselves!

Joe Mathews — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:36:00 -0400

In California, supporters of Prop 2, a Humane Society-backed ballot initiative to regulate how farm animals are confined, appear to have made a little bit of legal history. Earlier this month, they essentially sued themselves in an attempt to change their own ballot argument in favor of the measure.

The lawsuit, which is attached below, makes for odd reading. The language of the lawsuit sounds almost apologetic, asking for a "very minor change" (italics not mine) in both the ballot argument and the rebuttal to the "no" side's argument. Technically, the supporters are suing the Secretary of State, but they're suing the Secretary of State to change something they themselves wrote. The reason for the filing? To avoid voter confusion, the lawsuit says.

It appears that Humane Society folks thought they had lined up support for Prop 2 from some leading Catholics, but got pushback from church officials when the ballot argument said that Catholic leaders had endorsed the measure. The church itself has not. One Catholic group that endorsed the measure, the California Veterinary Medicine Association, also seems to be unhappy with one part of the ballot argument.

The Humane Society of the United States has a stronger record of success in ballot measures than any other interest group in the country. But this suggests that their California campaign is having some hiccups.

'Since Ham and Eggs Has Been Defeated I'm Feeling Kinda Blue'

Joe Mathews — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:51:00 -0400

I've been reading my New America colleague Rick Wartzman's terrific new book, Obscene in the Extreme, about the banning of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. In a fast-paced narrative, Wartzman offers a few nuggets of blockbuster democracy history, including a bit on "Ham and Eggs," one of the more interesting ballot initaitives in history. The idea of Ham and Eggs was to provide $30 every Thursday to every unemployed Californian over the age of 50. It lost twice, in 1938 and 1939, despite the strong support of some of the migrant laborers who were the subjects of Steinbeck's novel.

My great-grandparents, Bill and Linnie Humphrey, were among those laborers -- Okies who came to California during the Dust Bowl. The phrase above is part of a bit of verse Wartzman unearthed from the Covered Wagon News, according to a footnote. The verse concludes

For I thought it sure would pass

But there was too many voted

From the moneyed class.

Initiative to Limit Initiatives Makes Arizona Ballot

Joe Mathews — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:43:00 -0400

The initiative process tends to be popular, and attempts to restrict it tend to be unpopular. But an Arizona ballot initiative to restrict the power of the initiative might have appeared at the right time. Signature gathering in that state is an ongoing scandal, with several measures being knocked off the ballot because so many signatures turned out to be invalid.

The initiative, which qualified for the ballot late last week, would require that any initiative that requires new spending or taxes would have to receive not just a majority of all people voting but a majority of all registered voters before taking effect. That sets a high bar. But it may be a good idea. As my New America colleague Mark Paul has noted, voter-approved spending via initiative has become a major factor in California's budget troubles.

Arkansas Ban On Gay Adoption Makes November Ballot

Joe Mathews — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:36:00 -0400

The initiative would ban adoption by all unmarried couples but is aimed at same-sex couples, its supporters acknowledge. The AP has more details here. The initiative also would bar adoption by legally married same-sex couples, because Arkansas does not recognize such marriages. Look for Wal-Mart and other major Arkansas companies to fight this on the grounds that it will prevent them from recruiting employees who happen to be gay and have children.