Citizen Blog
A poll released today by Citizens in Charge Foundation shows a massive shift among California voters, when they are provided with more accurate information on Proposition 28.
“The polling shows clearly that giving voters more precise information in the ballot title dramatically changes their view on Prop 28. A recent poll using the official ballot title showed better than two-to-one support for the measure, while our poll with a more accurate title showed voters opposing Prop 28 by a nearly two-to-one margin,” said Citizens in Charge Foundation Chairman Michael Foudy.
Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” California Governor Jerry Brown was asked by host David Gregory whether the state was less governable today than when Brown was governor between 1975 and 1983. Brown argued that the state was “more governable” and, moreover, was better off than the federal government because in California “we can appeal directly to the people through the initiative process.”
DAVID GREGORY: Quickly, this is your third term as California governor, is it less governable now than it used to be?
One hundred years ago, in 1912, Washington citizens adopted the state’s initiative petition process. Tomorrow (Friday, Feb. 17) four initiative experts will discuss that process at a forum sponsored by The Foley Institute, Washington State University and the Washington Secretary of State. The event, entitled, “A Century of Citizen Initiatives in Washington: Are they still democratic?” will be held at the General Administration Auditorium on Olympia’s Capitol Campus, with a buffet lunch beginning at 11:30 am and the program lasting until 1:00 pm.
Today, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that California’s ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8, is unconstitutional. The ballot initiative was passed by California voters in November 2008 and challenged in federal court by two gay couples. The Ninth Circuit decision upholds the ruling by retired U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who first struck down the ballot measure in 2010.
In a separate decision, the appeals court refused to invalidate Walker’s ruling on the grounds that he should have disclosed he was in a long term same-sex relationship. ProtectMarriage, the backers of Prop 8, are expected to appeal Tuesday’s decision to a larger panel of the 9th Circuit or directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Second House Amendment Committee, a new group formed by initiative rights activists in Nebraska, filed an initiative constitutional amendment this week to lower the signature requirements for qualifying citizen initiatives. The group also filed a campaign finance registration, which is required once at least $5,000 has been raised by a ballot committee.
“I am confident that with the dedication of our volunteers and the commitment I have secured from people who are friends to petition rights, this issue will be on the November ballot,” committee member Kent Bernbeck told reporters.
So far, 24 states have certified 59 ballot questions for 2012 statewide ballots according to the latest compilation by Ballotpedia.
Voters across the country will have the opportunity to voice their opinion on a variety of subjects like health care, affirmative action, immigration, term limits, education, property taxes, voter IDs and abortion just to name a few.
You can view the comprehensive list of measures that have qualified for statewide ballots so far here.
Ballotpedia’s final analysis on donations to all 2011 statewide ballot measure campaigns has been released; the donations add up $85 million.
The report reveals some interesting information like the fact that the state with the highest contributions from all campaign sides from all ballot measures was in Ohio. The least amount of contributions was in Arkansas.
You can also find an overview of the contributions from supporters & opponents, a ranking of ballot measures from the most to the least contributions, and the ranking of political topic contributions where “labor” shows the most donations in Ohio on Issue 2.
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. The straightest line in politics is a ballot initiative.
In January, Paul began working for the Liberty Initiative Fund (LIF). For many years, he has endeavored to protect the citizen initiative process (and that work will continue with Citizens in Charge Foundation & Citizens in Charge). But now he’s taking the initiative — the express train to freedom — by helping great folks all across the country place measures for greater freedom and government accountability on the ballot.
Our partner organization, Citizens in Charge Foundation - a 501(c)3 non-profit
organization - is currently accepting applications for 2012 internships. We are looking for undergraduates, grad students and recent grads from all majors as well as law students.
Today is my first day as the President & CEO 
of Citizens in Charge Foundation and Citizens in Charge - I am already hard at work building on the successes we’ve enjoyed together over the past three years and, with your support, looking forward to making even greater strides as we kick-off 2012.
152,588,520 are thanking you for supporting the efforts of Citizens in Charge and our partner organization, Citizens in Charge Foundation over the past year. As the only national organizations dedicated to protecting the initiative, referendum and recall rights of all Americans without regard to partisanship or politics, we had a busy year in 2011. The rights of 152,588,520 were defended thanks to the hard work and dedication or our transpartisan coalitions throughout the country.
You can view a list of the state projects that we engaged in last year here but, I’d like to share some of the highlights.
Yesterday’s Common Sense article from Paul Jacob touches on the Michigan recall controversy:
The state constitution of Michigan grants citizens the right to recall their elected officials, but that right may face a challenge from the state legislature:
There have been many citizen initiatives passed in many different states throughout the years. Some have been fairly mundane and inconsequential, others have been controversial.
In the last 100 years, what do you think has been the most consequential citizen initiated ballot initiative that passed into law? If you can’t come up with just one, what would be the top 5? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
This article from Citizens in Charge President Paul Jacob isn’t necessarily about initiative rights, but it’s a great piece and worth the read: