Connecticut
Connecticut U.S. Senate candidate John Mertens has received the endorsements of two different non-partisan organizations. The Connecticut Citizens for Ballot Initiative, a non-partisan grass roots organization dedicated to bringing Initiative and Referendum to Connecticut, issued a press release today announcing the endorsement.
(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Today, Citizens in Charge Foundation, a national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, presented former Connecticut State Legislator John Woodcock with the October 2010 Lilburne Award. John is being honored this month for his ongoing efforts to bring statewide initiative and referendum rights to the citizens of Connecticut.
Bob Englehart of the Hartford Courant has a funny cartoon today. It shows California tied in a knot and says Connecticut voters reject calls for initiative rights because it was the initiative that got the Golden State all screwed up. It’s funny because it is just so wrong: Bob really should have done his homework before he penned it. If he had, he would know that California’s initiative process isn’t to blame for the state’s budget and governance woes.
John Woodcock and Connecticut Citizens for Ballot Initiative are trying to bring initiative & referendum rights to Connecticut citizens. John has an op-ed in today’s Hartford Courant that is worth a read:
Connecticut Citizens for Ballot Initiative would like to share with you the October 3, 2010 Boston Sunday Globe editorial, circulation 400,000, endorsing the Connecticut Citizens for Ballot Initiative’s campaign to bring a statewide initiative and referendum mechanism to Connecticut.
The Boston Globe had an editorial yesterday supporting the initiative & referendum process:
Last week Citizens in Charge held a joint press conference with Connecticut Citizens for Ballot Initiative at the State Capitol in Hartford to release the Connecticut results of our nationwide poll on support for initiative & referendum.
We just posted a video of the event with a mashup of some of the different speakers at the press conference. It’s posted on the website and on our YouTube Channel. Make sure to check it out.
Should Connecticut voters have the right to vote up or down on major public issues? Half the states in the country have a referendum process, but not Connecticut and a group has been formed to change that. Maybe it’s prompted by the Tea Party’ movement, or maybe it’s just general voter discontent but it appears more and more people like the idea.
An unlikely coalition of Independent, Green and Republican party candidates are trying to revive a proposal rejected by voters two years ago: Amend the state constitution to allow ballot initiatives. In a press conference Wednesday, they presented a survey conducted by Pulse Opinion Research that found 65 percent of the 500 state voters surveyed favor allowing ballot initiatives, with 14 percent opposed and 20 percent are not sure.
From the press conference this morning in Hartford, CT here is a writeup on Connecticut News Junkie:
Buoyed by a poll that says 65 percent of Connecticut voters support initiative and referendum a group of advocates and candidates in favor of the concept met at the state Capitol Wednesday to promote the idea.
(HARTFORD, CT) – Citizens in Charge, a national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, along with Connecticut Citizens for Ballot Initiative, will be holding a press conference Wednesday morning in Hartford, CT to release the findings of a statewide poll on support for initiative & referendum rights.
Citizens around the country are clamoring for more of a voice in their government. They are tired of being dictated to from Washington, DC and state capitols around the country. Populist sentiment is building, and one state that illustrates that quite well is Connecticut. John Woodcock III is the chairman of the Connecticut Citizens for Ballot Initiative, a group that is pushing to bring initiative & referendum rights to the citizens of Connecticut.
The following appeared as an op-ed in Monday’s Connecticut Post: