Citizens in Charge

John Hickenlooper, Scott McInnis and Dan Maes are all currently running for governor in Colorado. Hickenlooper is the current Democrat Mayor of Denver, McInnis is a former Republican member of Congress from Colorado, and Maes is a business manager who is also running on the Republican ticket.

Yesterday all three were at gubernatorial candidate forum and the topic of ballot initiatives and petition rights came up. Here is what they had to say:

Many have waited to see which side the California Democratic Party would stand on the controversial Proposition 19 which will appear on the November ballot. The party decided to take a neutral approach and not endorse either side last Sunday. Many cite the reason for this stance as trying not to contradict the party’s current candidates Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer, who have come out and made a stance in opposition to the measure.

(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Today, Citizens in Charge, a national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, began running a television ad on FOX News in Tulsa and Oklahoma City to educate the public about State Senator Randy Brogdon’s long-standing and effective support for the citizen initiative rights of Oklahomans.

After months of litigation surrounding allegations of signature fraud, the Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled that the Arundel Mills Slots Referendum will go on the Anne Arundel County ballot in November.

Only 9 days to go until the start of the U.S. Conference on I&R and the 2010 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy, have you registered yet to attend for free?

Join hundreds of citizens from across the US and around the world in San Francisco to work towards greater citizen initiative rights.

Will you join your fellow citizens in working to protect these important rights guaranteed to us by the First Amendment? Or will you allow yourself to be silenced?

In Nevada members of the grassroots group Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) announced that the ballot initiative the group sponsored has hit a financial brick wall. The initiative backed by PLAN has failed to reach the 2010 ballot after securing only 66,000 of the 97,002 signatures they needed.

Announcing Media Row at the U.S. Conference on I&R and 2010 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy

The Lilburne Award for the month of July has been given to two litigators from Missouri, Dale Doerhoff and Heidi Doerhoff Vollet. Both were honored for their outstanding advocacy on behalf of the Humane Society of Missouri in a court case dealing with the state’s initiative & referendum process. For more information about the award recipients and case check out the press release here.

Here’s a great piece in the Denver Westward News by Alan Prendergast about the struggle for citizen initiative rights, and the activisits who work to keep the initiative and referendum process open & accessible to everyone:

In Paul Grant’s experience, few things are as costly as free speech. It must be paid for again and again.

Krist Novoselic, former bassist for the rock band Nirvana and current chair of FairVote will be speaking at the Saturday night reception during the U.S. Conference on Initiative & Referendum.

Krist is a strong supporter of citizen initiative rights as an effective tool in reforming government, and we look forward to hearing from him at the conference.

If you haven’t already signed up to attend for free click here. Hope to see you there!

The James Madison Center for Free Speech issued a press release today regarding events unfolding in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District:

The days are numbered before the U.S. Conference on Initiative and Referendum kicks off in San Francisco July 30th. Have you registered to attend for free yet?

For some pre-coverage of the conference check out BallotPedia.

After a hearing last week in Omaha, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bataillon denied a request from the state chapter of the Libertarian Party to block enforcement of Nebraska’s ban on people from other states helping collect signatures on a petition. Relying on the flawed 2001 decision by the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in IRI v.

A new video is posted on our Youtube page. Check it out, and make sure to sign up for the US Conference on I&R and join your fellow citizens in San Francisco later this month if you haven’t already done so. It will be a fun and informative event on how you can put yourself in charge.