Oregon

The Secretary of State of Oregon was no fan of an effort to qualify a referendum to reverse the state's domestic partnership law. And the number of valid signatures barely met the requirement. So he went through the signatures and disqualified some 200 signatures that were determined not to match the voter signatures on registration card.

Now the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Secretary of State's actions were lawful. It's a tough call. While signature fraud remains a threat in the petition circulation game, it's a good bet that many or even most of the disqualified signatures were valid. How's that? People's signatures often change over the years. And for that reason, here's some free advice. If you haven't changed your voter registration in the past 5 years, it's a good idea to go in and update it, with a fresh signature. I've observed the counting of absentee ballots in California, and election officials are often checking against voter registration signatures from 30 or 40 years ago. If signatures don't match, the votes don't get counted.

An initiative to link teacher pay to student performance in the classroom has qualified for the statewide ballot in Oregon.

The "top two" open primary and a measure dedicating 15 percent of lottery revenues to public safety. Details are here.

While you were at the beach or barbecuing hot dogs, petition circulators were practicing democracy. The final sigs are pouring in. Four measures were filed at the last minute in Oregon: a measure to devote a percentage of lottery proceeds to crime fighting, a cap on attorney's fees, a measure to reduce the number of lawsuits, and the open primary "top two" measure.

In Arizona and Nebraska, Ward Connerly's local supporters have filed the signatures on their anti-affirmative action initiatives. The Nebraska initiative is the only measure that appears to have the signatures in that state. (Hat tip, Ballotpedia).

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.

Here's the ruling. Oregon's court doesn't go along with California's and decides to leave in place a 2004 voter-approved prohibition against same sex marriage.

Sponsors of an Oregon initiative to establish a "top two" primary, the U.S. Supreme Court-friendly version of the non-partisan or "open" primary, began to turn in signatures Friday.  In a top-two primary, all candidates appear (with party affiliations if their party is formally recognized by the state) on the primary ballot. The top two vote getters advance to the general election. (Ballot Access News, via ballotpedia).

OREGON GAMING MEASURE DROPPED: Backers of an initiative to establish Oregon's first non-tribal private casino say they've decided not to go forward. They could revive the proposals, but want to see how proposals for two tribal casinos fare first.

IMMIGRATION COPS: The Arizona legislator who wants to allow police officers to enforce immigration laws is pursuing dual tracks -- a ballot initiative and legislation at the same time. The initiative is back-up, he explains.

COLORADO GOV RAIN ON SPEAKER's INITIATIVE: Gov. Bill RItter, a Democrat, questions the political strategy behind an effort by the Democratic House speaker in his state to qualify a measure lifting some of the state's spending limits. Ritter has been trying to reduce the number of measures on the November ballot.

ONE CENT SALES TAX TO FUND TRANSPORTATION: Arizonans, including Gov. Janet Napolitano, have launched an initiative to pay for $42 billion in transporation spending with a one-cent sales tax. The full plan for how they would spend the money is due next month.

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL: Here's an important and under-reported story: Nevada's schools will be closed on Election Day in November. That should boost turnout in a swing presidential state. And it also could give a boost to the Nevada teachers' unions, who are attempting to raise gaming taxes to boost education funds. Not having to teach that day will boost turnout. Also, about 800 of the poll workers could be students, says the state's registrar of voters. In related news, a Nevada judge rules that two measures to tax gaming to provide funds for education can remain on the ballot. The judge thinks they make little sense, but says that the voters have the right to decide that for themselves.

AG'S DOMAIN: Some agriculture interests are getting aggressive in opposing Prop 98, one of the two measures on June's California ballot that would put restrictions on eminent domain. The Sacramento Bee says that this represents a divide in the agriculture community, since the California Farm Bureau is one of the initiative's backers. (Prop 98's restrictions include tigher limitations on using condemnation for private purposes and on retn control than its competitor, Prop 99).

Oregonians who want to block a liquefied natural gas terminal on the Columbia River filed papers Friday for a referendum. With the LNG industry focused on expansion in the U.S., expect to see more measures like this in the West.