Arizona

Arizona

SausageWhen calling for restrictions on the voter initiative process, initiative opponents often pull out the tired old argument that citizen initiatives lack the amount of deliberation and consideration that is said to accompany the traditional legislative process. Because they have committee hearings, legislators make better laws - or so the story goes.

Election officials across Arizona will have to process 1.75 million ballots again to determine whether the deadline for submitting citizens’ ballot initiatives will move up by two months. Proposition 112 trailed by just 123 votes in unofficial returns, setting up the first statewide general election recount anyone in the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office can recall.

Read the story from The White Mountain Independent

Councilman Doug Stavoe’s initiative for council term limits has been certified to appear on the March 8 ballot as Proposition 421. Stavoe believes term limits will provide more opportunities for citizens to become involved in the town’s government and, as a result, more will be informed as to how the town operates. Jim Peirce’s two property tax initiatives have also been certified to appear on the March ballot.

Read the story from Sonoran News

A ballot measure allowing medical marijuana was too close to call late Tuesday night. Proposition 203 was failing by about 7,200 votes out of more than 1.2 million cast. Andrew Myers, campaign manager for the Arizona Marijuana Policy Project, the main group supporting the measure, said later returns could still pull Proposition 203 ahead. “I think the right votes will come in,” he said. The measure’s detractors also were confident.

Read the story from the East Valley Tribune

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.

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

LeafOne 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 Arizona Prop. 109.

 Prop 109 is a back door power grab by state legislators

 

Retired Arizona State University Law School Dean Paul Bender, who specializes in constitutional rights, and retired Arizona Chief Justice Stanley Feldman recently weighed in on Arizona Proposition 109. Both legal scholars found several problems with the initiative, ranging from opening up the state to lawsuits to taking away Arizonan’s ballot initiative rights, according to the Arizona Daily Star.

The goal of a proposed “right to hunt” constitutional amendment is to make it harder to put anti-hunting initiatives on the ballot, a supporter has testified. “Wildlife management at the ballot box is a loser for hunters and a loser for conservation and wildlife,” Darren LaSorte, the National Rifle Association’s hunting policy manager, testified at the Arizona Legislature last winter. But if Proposition 109 passes Nov. 2, its effect on voter initiatives may not be that clear-cut, say two legal experts.

Read the story from the Arizona Daily Star

Liberty Watch Radio

Tue, Oct 12 2010 by Staff

Citizens in Charge President Paul Jacob will be on Liberty Watch Radio later this month to discuss opposition to Proposition 109 in Arizona.

Paul will be on October 31st at 1pm Mountain Standard Time for about a half hour.

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(PHOENIX, AZ) –  Citizens in Charge, a national voter rights group focused on protecting the ballot initiative and referendum process, today blasted Proposition 109 as “a sneaky power grab” taking away the initiative rights of Arizona voters as the group’s president, Paul Jacob, travels across Arizona this week urging voters to reject the measure on this November’s ballot.

(PHOENIX, AZ) –  Citizens in Charge, a national voter rights group focused on protecting the ballot initiative and referendum process, today blasted Proposition 109 as “a sneaky power grab” taking away the initiative rights of Arizona voters as the group’s president, Paul Jacob, travels across Arizona this week urging voters to reject the measure on this November’s ballot.

This November, voters in four states will see ballot measures seeking to place a right to hunt and fish into their constitutions. In three of those states, the issues are likely to pass quite comfortably, but not in Arizona.

This week I am traveling to Arizona to campaign against Proposition 109, a measure that on the surface seeks to enshrine hunting and fishing rights, but in reality is a back door power grab by the state legislature that chips away at citizen initiative rights.