Citizens in Charge

Last week over two-thirds of Illinois voters voted in favor of establishing a process by which voters can recall the state’s governor. On the surface this may look like a great advancement in citizen rights, but just like with initiative rights, having a process and having an open and accessible process that citizens can use are two different things.

Unfortunately, as Kristina Rasmussen at the Illinois Policy Institute points out, it looks like Illinois’ new process may not be very usable:

An effort to recall the mayor of Miami looks like it will go to court as the subject of the recall effort attempts to block the petition on a technicality:

The 2010 election saw citizens all across the country voting on well over 100 different ballot measures in nearly every state. While the midterm elections are now over, our work to protect and expand initiative & referendum rights around the country continues.

With the defeat of two measures that would have curtailed Arizonans’ petition rights and the narrow passage of an amendment streamlining Oklahoma’s initiative process, yesterday’s election went quite well for petition rights advocates.

Today, millions of citizens are voting on over a hundred different ballot measures across the country. Some of them are citizen initiated, some are legislatively referred. While we here at Citizens in Charge prefer that the citizens get to place their own measures on the ballot, we are happy that citizens get a voice through the legislatively referred ones as well.

If you’re interested in seeing what’s on the ballot check out this roundup from FoxNews. You can also check out BallotPedia, a great central location for all the ballot initiative news and information you can handle.

Last week Citizens in Charge Foundation - a partner organization to Citizens in Charge - sent a letter to Secretaries of State and Attorneys General in 12 states asking them to stop enforcing unconstitutional restrictions on ballot initiative rights. In light of recent legal action in which Kansas officials agreed with petition advocates that the state’s law against petition circulators from other states was unconstitutional, Foundation President Paul Jacob asked officials to “do the right thing” and stop enforcing similar

The Oklahoman has an editorial out today supporting passage of SQ 750 in order to make the state initiative process more open and accessible to citizens:

CapitolBeatOK.com, a nonpartisan news site that provides information on Oklahoma politics had a piece Wednesday about the radio ad Citizens in Charge is currently running in the state urging a ‘YES’ vote on SQ 750:

Citizens in Charge is running a radio ad in Oklahoma until election day urging state voters to vote ‘YES’ on State Question 750.

If passed, State Question 750 will streamline Oklahoma’s petition signature requirements for placing measures on the ballot and make it easier for citizens to utilize the process.

(MADISON, WI) – The overwhelming majority of Wisconsinites want a direct say in government through statewide initiative and referendum rights, according to a recent poll.
Citizens in Charge Foundation, a national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process and the John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, a free market think tank in Wisconsin, released the results of an opinion poll conducted in the state on voter support for initiative and referendum rights. The results were clear, with 63% of voters supporting and only 16% opposing.

While Citizens in Charge focuses on initiative and referendum petitioning, nomination petition law often has a major effect on other petitions. We have been following the case of Herb Lux, who sought to run as an independent candidate for Congress in the 2010 general election, but wasn’t allowed to circulate his own petitions. On Wednesday Lux asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to protect his petition rights. Many legal observers believe the case will go to the Supreme Court.

(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Today, Citizens in Charge, a national voter rights group focused on protecting the ballot initiative and referendum process, began running a radio ad in Oklahoma urging citizens to vote ”˜YES’ on State Question 750.

“Oklahoma is currently the most difficult state in the country for voters to place an initiative on the ballot,” said Citizens in Charge President Paul Jacob. “State Question 750 is an opportunity to make Oklahoma’s initiative and referendum process more open and accessible to citizens.”

One of the greatest strengths of the initiative process is that it allows citizens to deal with issues or present positions that politician are unlikely to every tackle. Among those issues is drug policy reform, and the legalization/decriminalization of marijuana in particular.

Citizens in Charge takes no position whatsoever on ballot measures - either from the people or the legislature - unless they relate to the initiative or referendum process. This November one of those initiatives is Arizona Proposition 112.

Citizens in Charge takes no position whatsoever on ballot measures - either from the people or the legislature - unless they relate to the initiative or referendum process. This November one of those initiatives is Oklahoma State Question 750.