Utah

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.

UTAH FIGHT OVER POWER OF REFERENDUM, INITIATIVVE: A new Utah law, which goes into effect next month, would prevent local voters from making land-use decisions at the ballot. But a group in Sevier County, Utah is attempting to challenge the law -- and plans to build a coal-fired electricity plant in their community.

MORE FIXED THAN PUTIN: At an event on budget reform in Garden Grove Monday, gov. Schwarzenegger -- in answer to a question on his redistricting initiative -- talked about the lack of political compeititon. He repeated the statistic that out of 496 seats up for grabs in the last three election cycles in California, only four changed party hands. "Think about that," he said. "That's a fixed system. We always laugh at Putin in Russia when he has his elections. We say, 'This is ridiculous, it's fixed.' Ours is more fixed, I can guarantee you that. It is crazy." More fixed than Putin? Hard to judge. But on turnover, the governor has got a point, as seats in the Duma have changed party hands -- in large part because of Putin's strong-arming -- more often than California legislative and Congressional seats.

UPDATED APRIL 4 After two nights of contacting gatherers and reading initiatives from all over the country (AND SOME EXCELLENT CORRECTIONS ON ARKANSAS AND MICHIGAN FROM Ballotpedia), here's my report on what's "on the street" and circulating in this great democratic land of ours. Please let me know if you think I'm missing important measures. For a more progressive take and focus, you can look at the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center's issues map.

In its first week, this blog has focused on the soaring number of land use questions that end up on the ballot as initiatives in local elections. California has been the center of this trend, but other Western states are experiencing the same thing.

Utah legislators have decided to slow down the train. They've passed a bill, now signed into law by the governor, that would make it all but impossible to submit initiatives or referneda on land use questions to local voters. The governor has signed it. And the Salt Lake Tribune is angry about it. This won't be the last you hear about this law. Look for court challenges -- and for the national property rights movement and direct democracy advocates to make a cause of reversing this.