Initiative

Writing in the LA Times, Jessica Garrison describes how school boards have become the latest battleground for endorsements in the campaigns for and against Prop 8, the California initiative to ban same sex marriage.

A little-noticed ballot initiative in South Dakota is turning into a big battle being closely watched by the financial services industry, hedge funds and investors around the country.

The initiative would ban "naked short selling," the practice of selling short shares of a stock that have not been determined to exist. Typically, you're supposed to borrow a stock -- and determine it can be borrowed -- before you sell it short.

Naked short selling is supposed to be illegal, but loopholes allow it to happen. An SEC ban on such short selling in several companies expired this week. The financial industry is up in arms about the South Dakota ban, which has no exceptions.

It's another populist blast from South Dakota, the first state to adopt direct democracy (in 1898). The sponsor of the measure is a Republican state senator who says he wants to protect businesses from being forced into bankrupcy by the practice. "We're just doing the job [the SEC] should be doing," he tells Markets Media Online.

Two lawsuits have been filed against the ballot initiative, a gaming industry effort to eliminate loss limits at casinos. The claim is that the initiative, by making several changes in gaming law in Missouri, would violate the single-subject rule -- the requirement that initiatives cover only one subject. A detailed report on the legal dispute is here.

Today's Sacramento Bee has an interesting overview of Prop 2, the California ballot initiative limiting how farm animals may be confined. If enacted, California farms effectively would be prohibited from raising hens in cages.

That's the case made by the Columbus (Neb.) Telegram. The group sponsoring initiative, which would ban affirmative action in public programs, is failing to comply with a law requiring that out-of-state donors be disclosed. And groups opposing the measure is hiding the ball by listing varius payments to itself. It's a very strong article, and is here.

On Tuesday, Denver voters backed a controversial local initiative to require the police to seize the cars of unlicensed drivers; the measure was aimed at unauthorized immigrants. Voters also approved a measure to cut the city council out of the initiative process. Previously, the council had to place an initiative on the ballot after it received enough signatures; now the certification of signatures automatically triggers a ballot placement.

Wondering about the extraterrestrial commission initiative? That wasn't on Tuesday's local ballot.

Supporters of Prop 2, the California ballot initiative to add restrictions on how farm animals may be confined, are suing the federal government and an agricultural trade board. The claim? That the USDA and the American Egg Board are using government funds to fight the initiative.

Prop 2 hasn't received as much attention as Prop 8, the same-sex marriage ban. But it could surpass Prop 8 in media coverage by the November election. While gay marriage applies only to a small percentage of the population, we're all animals and we all eat. Prop 2, backed largely by the Humane Society of the United States, will be pitched as an animal protection measure. Opponents, mostly agricultural interests, will argue that the initiative, if enacted, would compromise food safety and raise food prices. Those are issues and appeals that should get everybody's attention.

In blockbuster democracy, there are always invalid signatures. People don't sign their own names. Forgery by gatherers can be a problem. Sometimes, people's signatures change over time, and no longer match registration cards filed decades ago. Or people mistakenly leave out part of their address, or sign on a petition from the wrong county. Some problems are to be expected. When initiative petition signatures are checked, about 70 percent of signatures will prove to be valid -- if the signature gathering operation was well run.

But in Arizona, the signature gathering efforts for multiple measures appear to have failed to meet that standard. According to the Arizona Republic, three measures appear to be in trouble. Two of them, one involving real estate transfers and another involving conservation, appear to have fallen short. A third, a transportation initiative, had so few valid signatures that it has failed to make the ballot. In random sampling, an estimated 42 percent of the signatures were invalid, suggesting that the people handling the gathering failed to do their job. Arizona's Secretary of State said that this was "among the largest overall invalid rates that I can recall ever seeing from a citizens initiative drive.” The initiative won't be on the ballot.

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.

The law in question is a proposed initiative to require parents be notified before a minor receives an abortion. It's Prop 4 on California's November ballot. The LA Times has a great story explaining that how the advertising of the initiative is off.