Citizens in Charge

As Alamo Heights initiative and referendum activists geared up for a petition drive to ask the city to recognize the power of citywide initiative, referendum and recall three new members of the city council beat them to the punch by proposing such a process themselves. Activists in the city of 7,400 inform me that expansion of democracy was on the agenda for the new members at the outset of their terms. You can read about it here.

Last year, Citizens in Charge filed suit in Nebraska to challenge the state law requiring petition signature gatherers be residents of the state. The law places an unconstitutional burden on citizens of the state seeking to put a measure on the ballot.

Over the weekend, the Libertarian Party of Nebraska joined in the effort to block the unconstitutional portion of the law:

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel, The Scarlet Letter, a young woman is forced to wear a scarlet-red letter ‘A’ on her shirt as punishment for adultery. His novel is set in Puritan Boston in the 1600’s.

Colorado’s constitution guarantees all stat citizens the power of initiative “as to all local, special, and municipal legislation of every character in of for their respective municipalities.” One restriction on this is that initiatives must be “legislative,” not “administrative.” Any initiative that is deemed “administrative” cannot be certified for the ballot.

Utah’s highest court will hear arguments tomorrow to decide if signatures collected over the internet count on Utah petitions. The effort to allow signatures is being backed by the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

This is an interesting and great story in the Native American Times. The tribe’s Supreme Court ruled that an initiative led and passed by the people to reduce the size of their council and give a line-item veto to the president was valid and legal: