Citizens in Charge

Today, Colorado’s Independence Institute and a group of citizens involved in various initiative petition campaigns in the state filed suit in federal court seeking to overturn a state law that imposes new rules and restrictions on initiative petitions. The law was passed last year by a large, bipartisan majority of legislators.

Citizens in Charge Foundation has been working with those who brought the legal challenge. One plaintiff, Dennis Polhill, is a member of Citizens in Charge’s board of directors.

New Jersey politics is always interesting. Today a state appeals court ordered the Jersey Secretary of State to finally give petitions to citizens seeking to recall U.S. Senator Robert Menendez under a provision in the state constitution.

(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Citizens in Charge Foundation, a national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, recently joined with the Brechner First Amendment Project, Brechner Center for Freedom of Information and other organizations in filing an amicus curiae (Latin for “friend of the court”) brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Citizens for Police Accountability Political Committee v. Browning, a Florida case concerning the right to petition voters leaving a polling place.

The right of residents of La Center, WA to propose initiatives and referendums is expected to be recognized this month by the city council. The recognition comes after citizens submitted a petition to the council asking for the recognition of a formal petitioning process.

This vote from Nebraska shows just how little importance is often placed on citizen initiative rights in some state legislatures. A proposal in the Nebraska Senate to make it easier for citizens to put initiatives on the ballot was voted down on Thursday. Most of the senators didn’t even show up for the vote, and the ones who did decided that they apparently don’t really want the average citizen to have any more power.

Here is the latest update for the three anti-initiative and referendum bills currently working their way through the Maine Legal and Veterans Affairs (LVA) Committee.

LD 1690, “An Act To Prevent Predatory Signature Gathering and Ensure a Clean Citizen Initiative and People’s Veto Process” was voted on in Committee Work Session (2/25) as Ought Not to Pass; however it has not been reported out of committee yet.

Two controversial anti-initiative bills are about to be brought up once again in the Maine Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee. Both bills would chill petitioning in Maine, and lawmakers have been hearing from activists on the issue. Fireworks are expected, and you can listen in right now live via the Legislature’s website by clicking here.

Utah Senate Bill 275, sponsored by the apparently less-than-voter-friendly Sen. Howard Stephenson, has passed both houses and now sits on the Governor’s desk. The bill would give opponents of an initiative one month more to try to get voters to take their names off of a petition than initiative proponents have to get voters to put their names on. This not only gives opponents an unfair advantage in their campaigns, but opens up voters to harassment.

We put up a new video late yesterday afternoon from this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC. Our theme was “Government Gone Wild”, and we got a great response from those who stopped by our booth to grab some info or a t-shirt.

Government has Gone Wild. Protect yourself.

Let’s go halfway across the pond to Iceland for a little bit of international intitiative & referendum news.

Citizens of Iceland voted this past weekend on a repayment plan to pay back patrons of an Icelandic bank that failed. With the results almost completely tallied I think it’s safe to say that they did not like the repayment plan. It’s back to the drawing board for the government of Iceland on how to repay the debt.

To celebrate Citizens in Charge Foundation President Paul Jacob’s 50th birthday, the staff went bowling during our lunch break today. The rest of the staff tried our best, but the birthday boy was victorious, bowling a solid 144. Who knew our modest president was such a good bowler? It must be all that karma, working for decades for citizen rights. Here’s to a happy 50th birthday Paul.

(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Citizens in Charge Foundation, a transpartisan national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, presented Utah State Representative Neil Hansen (D-Ogden) with the March 2010 John Lilburne Award.  Rep. Hansen is being recognized for standing up for equality and fairness in the state’s initiative process and against pending legislation, SB 275, which would give opponents of an initiative an unfair advantage over the initiative’s supporters.