Citizens in Charge

The Obama Justice Department has been slammed for attempting to meddle with a ballot initiative in Oklahoma. Several state lawmakers sent a “stern letter” to Attorney General Eric Holder blasting a letter sent by his office in April.

The April letter referred to an early version of a state constitutional amendment making English the official state language and threatened denying federal funds to the state if the measure passed. That version conflicted with some federal laws, but the version later passed by the legislature complies with federal law. The amendment will go before voters in 2010.

The lawmakers are criticizing the administration for sending the threat before the legislation was finalized and for meddling in the state’s lawmaking process. They claim the letter was timed to effect the debate that was going on in the state at the time and that Oklahoma was being singled out.

Since the power rests with the people and their state representatives to make laws for their state, actions like this make us ask whether the federal government should have any say on ballot initiatives at all?