New Jersey
Last week Trevor Ford talked about New Jersey voters taking charge of their state using local initiative and referendum processes. What happened in New Jersey underscores how much power can be given to citizens when they have an accessible local process to initiate legislation and bring government matters to a vote.
The following states recognize some form of local initiative and referendum rights for more than half their citizens:
New Jersey citizens went to the polls yesterday in local elections across the state. The big items on the ballot were school budget referenda, and from the looks of things New Jersey voters made very clear their views on spending in the state:
New Jersey voters took a stand on school spending and property taxes Tuesday, rejecting 260 of 479 school budgets across 19 counties, according to unofficial results in statewide school elections.
New Jersey voters took a stand on school spending and property taxes Tuesday, rejecting 260 of 479 school budgets across 19 counties, according to unofficial results in statewide school elections. In the proposed state budget he unveiled last month, Gov. Chris Christie slashed $820 million in aid to school districts and urged voters to defeat budgets if teachers in their schools did not agree to one-year wage freezes. The salvo ignited a heated debate with the state’s largest teachers union. Christie said the cuts were necessary to help plug an $11 billion state budget gap.
New Jersey politics is always interesting. Today a state appeals court ordered the Jersey Secretary of State to finally give petitions to citizens seeking to recall U.S. Senator Robert Menendez under a provision in the state constitution.
Township voters seemingly rejected the $2.9 million Foley Field bond issue during a special referendum held March 9. Tuesday’s five-hour referendum unofficially tallied 1,194 votes against the initiative and 1,084 in favor as of Tuesday night. The final tally could still be impacted the inclusion of provisional ballots; those numbers were not expected until Wednesday (after this newspaper’s press time), according to school officials. Approximately eight percent of Bloomfield’s 27,964 registered voters visited the polls, according to unofficial results.
In the “Initiative & Referendum Almanac”, the principle reference text for those of us in the world of initiative and referendum, the section on New Jersey history starts out noting that “It is ironic that New Jersey, the state where the national initiative and referendum movement originated, never adopted provisions for I&R.” It’s not only ironic, but sad, because like citizens in the other 25 states that don’t recognize initiative and referendum rights, New Jersey citizens could ce
Gov. Chris Christie says initiative and referendum is something that could benefit New Jersey. During today’s “Ask the Governor” radio call-in show on New Jersey 101.5 FM, Christie said he thought the state could be a better place if it had I&R. Initiative and referendum allows citizens to use petitions to put issues on the ballot to be decided directly by voters.
As initiative proponents collect signatures for next year’s ballot, and the Citizens in Charge Foundation staff continues to dig out from last weekend’s snow storm, petition rights activists around the country are getting ready for the restrictions on the initiative and referendum process that will be proposed in upcoming state legislative sessions.
Chilly relations between the Sierra Club, Environment N.J., and N.J. Environmental Federation; and Gov. Jon Corzine virtually frosted over today in Newark where the governor signed legislation creating an open space bond question on the November ballot without the attendant onstage presence of reps from those environmental activists. “Unlike other similar signings, like in 2007, 2005, 1999, 1996, when members of the environmental community spoke, this signing looked more like a pep rally for Corzine,” said Sierra Club spokeswoman Kara Seymour. “This year, only one environmentalist spoke.
The Point Pleasant Beach borough clerk nullified the effort to recall Mayor Vincent Barrella after she determined one of the petition circulators failed to sign the petition. Clerk Maryann Ellsworth initially decided the recall committee had met the required number of signatures to put the issue on this November’s ballot, but a subsequent decision released today said a procedural error by one of the petition circulators forced her to invalidate the entire petition.
The Citizens in Charge Foundation page on the history of ballot initiative & referendum in New Jersey begins:
It is ironic that New Jersey, the state where the national initiative and
referendum movement originated, never adopted provisions for I&R.
Certainly it was not for lack of enthusiasm among New Jersey’s I&R
supporters…
Signatures on petitions to recall the city mayor and one council member are being reviewed by elections officials today in Cap May Court House. Recall supporters are targeting the officials in response recent and proposed tax increases.
Residents of Medford Lakes, NJ are pushing ahead with plans to recall the borough mayor. The recall effort comes in response to consideration of a plan to eliminate the local police force. Recall supporters need to collect the signatures of about 750 registered voters to trigger a recall election.
The New Jersey Farm Bureau is advocating that the State Legislature approve the placement of a public question in November to continue New Jersey’s open space program, established in 1981. The bureau, which represents the state’s farming community, strongly supports authorizing the Garden State Preservation Trust bond issue of $600 million over a three-year period, under its current terms.
“The referendum would be on the ballot this coming November,” Mr. Vernotico said, as a “yes” or “no” question. At one time, he said, the theory of the at-large position was a swing vote that would not favor either ward.