Archives for June 2010

Photos From Switzerland

Thu, Jun 17 2010 by Staff

Check out our Flickr account for new pictures from the Switzerland Initiative Tour. A few are already posted with more on the way, so make sure to check back frequently.

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Citizens in Charge Foundation President Paul Jacob and Exec. Director Amanda Roman recently traveled to Switzerland to learn about the initiative & referendum process and direct democracy in Europe. IRI Europe is one groups co-hosting the 2010 Global Forum in San Francisco next month, and they brought over a group of people from the U.S. to learn about and discuss citizen initiative rights.

Today is your last day to book a discount rate hotel room for the U.S Conference on Initiative & Referendum in San Francisco this July.

If you’re planning on attending hurry up and book your room so you don’t miss out on this great deal!

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U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer on Friday put a temporary hold on part of a controversial 2009 bill restricting, among other things, how and when voters can be asked to sign a petition. You can read the judge’s order here.

World Cup Petition

Fri, Jun 11 2010 by Staff

Today marks the beginning of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with South Africa taking on Mexico this morning in the Cup’s opening match. The match resulted in a 1-1 draw, but was still pretty entertaining to watch.

In honor of the start of the World Cup I direct your attention to the petition to bring the Cup back to the United States. The U.S. is in the bidding process for the 2018 or 2022 Cup, and it would be great to bring it back. So go use your citizen petition power and sign it!

On Tuesday, June 8, I testified before the subcommittee of the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) Platform Committee that handled the pro-initiative and referendum (I&R) resolutions that came out of the Senatorial District Conventions.  The cards were stacked against us as members of this subcommittee were hand picked and all were anti-I&R.  Shirley Spellerberg, the woman who proudly told me at the hearing that she was the one responsible for getting I&R of the platform in 1996, was selected for this committee to ensure that it would fail again.

The Laguna Hills, California city council recently decided not to put a term-limits measure on the ballot for voters. They cited the fact that a citizen initiative campaign was already underway to put the measure on the ballot:

Citizen Initiatives Update

Wed, Jun 9 2010 by Staff

A quick update on the citizen initiative votes from yesterday in California and Maine.

California’s citizen initiatives, Prop 16 and 17, were both defeated at the polls yesterday. Prop 16 voted down by a 52.3% to 47.7% margin. Prop 17 lost 51.7% to 48.3%.

In addition to the many primary elections happening today around the country, voters in California and Maine are also voting on state-wide ballot questions.

California has 5 state-wide measures up for a vote today, but only two are citizen initiatives, Prop 16 and Prop 17.

Californians will go to the polls in today’s statewide primary election not only to choose candidates for this November, but also to decide questions about property taxes, primary elections, auto insurance and energy. You can follow the results as they come in on the Secretary of State’s website.

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(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Today, Citizens in Charge Foundation, a transpartisan national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, presented Maine Citizen State Coordinator Mary Adams with the June 2010 John Lilburne Award. Adams is being honored this month for her work over the decades in not only utilizing, but defending and expanding the initiative & referendum process in the state of Maine.

In ALEC’s latest “Rich States, Poor States” report there is a ranking of states by “economic outlook,” a compilation of 15 policy variables, and by past economic performance (from 1998 to 2008).