Ballot Access News has a handy overview of several proposed constitutional amendments, now in the California legislature, to reinstitute the indirect initiative. Before a constitutional revision in the 1960s, California permitted voters to gather signatures as a method of putting an idea before the legislature.

I tend to think the indirect initiative is a waste of time. The process was almost never used before the 1960s, and it would not be used much even if any of these amendments were to be approved by the legislature and voters (All face uphill battles). Why would an initiative sponsor submit to a process that permitted the legislature to change her proposed statute or constitutional amendment?

In the United States, ballot initiatives usually appear "naked" on the ballot. That is to say, voters decide yes or no on a particular statute or constitutional amendment, and that's it. There's only one choice.

Most of the rest of the world doesn't do things this way. In Switzerland, where modern direct democracy was invented, voters get more of a choice. They not only can vote yes or no on an initiative, but they also get to pass a judgment on a legislative counter-proposal to each initiative. And they can decide which of the two meausures-- the initiative or the counter-proposal--takes effect in the event that both are approved by voters.

But change may be coming in Oregon. The possibility of a counter-proposal is part of state legislation, now being debated, that would require that initiatives go to the legislature first before they appear on the ballot. If approved, the legislation would give lawmakers the option of approving the initiative, doing nothing and letting the initiative go on the ballot, or offering a counter-proposal.

ANTI ABORTION BAN MAY BE UNCONSTITUTIONAL: South Dakota's attorney general suggests that if approved by voters, a November ballot initiative to ban abortion in almost all cases there could face a legal challenge. Such challenges are common, and often are successful. In California, nearly half of all inititiatves passed by voters since World War II have been invalidated at least in part by the courts. (Hat tip: ballotpedia).

DENVER COUNCIL DOESN'T WANT INITIATIVE REVIEW: In California and other initiative states, there is often talk of giving legislative bodies more of a role in reviewing initiatives before they go on the ballot. In Denver, however, the city council, which has such power, doesn't want the headache anymore. Perhaps this has something to do with the extraterrestial commission.

PROBLEMS FOR UTAH BAN ON LAND USE REFERENDA: Is Utah ban on land use referenda and initiatives constitutional? The state's attorney general thinks not.

ADDICTED TO INITIATIVES? An Oregon activist with a love of initiatives is found in contempt of court for using assets to pay for campaigns that a judge says should have gone to a fraud judgment.