Citizens in Charge

No National Trend In Voter’ Decisions

In recent election cycles, initiatives have been perceived to seriously impact the presidential contest or congressional races. The marriage amendments or same-sex marriage bans passed in a number of states in 2004 were believed to have assisted President Bush in winning the critical state of Ohio, for instance. Victories for term limits initiatives in 1992 and 1994 no doubt also helped Republicans sweep into Congress, then for the first time in 40 years.

But with 61 initiatives and referendums on the 2008 ballot, no discernable national trend appeared. On economic and social issues and on government reform and accountability, voters responded differently in different states.

Four states voted on measures impacting the initiative and referendum process itself. Citizens in Charge endorsed a NO vote on all four measures.

Voters defeated Proposition 105 in Arizona, which would have required a majority of all registered voters, not just those voting, to enact any initiative that either raised taxes or mandated spending of any amount. Referendum O in Colorado, which would have made it harder for citizens to place constitutional amendments on the ballot, but easier to qualify statutes, was also defeated.

On the other hand, Ohio voters approved Issue 1, moving the deadline for submitting initiative petitions backward from its current 90 days before the election to 125 days before the election. Wyoming’s Amendment B also passed, imposing a tougher distribution requirement for future Wyoming initiatives, even though no voter initiative has qualified for the ballot in Wyoming since 1996.

A measure to repeal term limits for South Dakota legislators was referred to the ballot by those same legislators. Voters crushed Amendment J, with more than 75 percent voting NO. Almost 70 percent of Louisiana voters enacted a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on public boards.

A redistricting reform finally passed in California. Proposition 11 won narrowly, 51-49 percent, thus placing legislative re-districting decisions in the hands of a commission rather than the state legislature.

One of the most interesting political reform proposals was the so-called “anti-corruption” initiatives placed on the ballot in Colorado and South Dakota. These measures restrict groups that receive government contracts over $100,000 from making certain types of campaign contributions. Though woefully outspent, Colorado Amendment 54 passed with 51% of the vote. South Dakota’s Initiated Measure 10 was defeated. A similar measure, the Anti-Corruption Act, is qualified for the 2010 ballot in Alaska.

Voters in Connecticut, Hawaii and Illinois defeated ballot questions that would have called a constitutional convention. These votes routinely fail by large percentages, as they did this year. But the millions money spent in each state by the National Education Association and other entrenched political interests against a YES vote was perhaps a sign of the potent desire for change among the electorate.

While Nebraska citizens enacted a prohibition against racial and gender preferences in education, government contracting and employment, Colorado became the first state in the country to defeat one of Ward Connerly’s anti-affirmative action measures, 51-49 percent.

On standard issues such as taxes, the results again were mixed. Voters in Massachusetts and North Dakota defeated income tax cuts, while Maine voters defeated a legislatively enacted tax increase in a referendum. Amendments 51 and 58 in Colorado, which would have increased taxes, were both beaten at the polls, while voters in Minnesota passed a statewide sales tax increase.

One of the sleeper issues of the 2008 cycle was Colorado’s Amendment 59, which would have put all future tax refunds from Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights into a fund for education. While the proponents of Amendment 59 far outspend opponents of the measure, it nonetheless went down to defeat.

On energy policy, Missouri passed Proposition C, which mandates that local utilities provide a rising percentage of energy from renewable energy sources. But California voters defeated a similar measure, Prop 7, and also defeated Prop 10, which would have subsidized various uses of alternative energy.

Oregon voters defeated Ballot Measure 58, which would have limited the use of foreign language instruction in public schools to two years, while Missouri voters passed Constitutional Amendment 1, establishing English as the official language for all government meetings.

Perhaps the closest thing to a trend was the success of a number of healthcare measures, even though Arizona’s Proposition 101 to guarantee a person’s choice of private health care systems lost by less than half a percentage point. SEIU backed measures to regulate and allow unionization of home health care workers passed in both Missouri and Washington. Montana voters passed I-155 to provide health insurance coverage for all uninsured children.

Medical marijuana passed in Michigan and a measure to decriminalize marijuana passed in Massachusetts, but a measure to provide more treatment options, rather than incarceration, failed in California.

Abortion restrictions were defeated in California, Colorado and South Dakota. Meanwhile, measures to ban same-sex marriage won in all three states – Arizona, California and Florida – where voted were able to decide. In Arkansas, an initiative to prevent unmarried couples from adopting was approved, while Washington state passed an assisted suicide law and Michigan voters permitted the use of embryonic stem cells in research.

Gambling measures also saw mixed views, with voters in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maryland and Missouri easing current rules or allowing for further gambling and Alaska, Maine and Ohio voters blocking increased gambling.

And on animal rights issues, California and Massachusetts passed measures to regulate animal treatment and outlaw dog racing, respectively, voters in Alaska defeated aerial wolf hunting restrictions and Oklahomans made hunting a constitutional right.
In 2008, voters did not speak in one voice on most of the major ballot issues. But fortunately, voters did get to speak in many voices.