North Carolina
The fate of the same-sex marriage amendment referendum will rest in the hands of North Carolina voters in this coming election cycle.
This Spring, registered voters can vote on a proposed amendment to the N.C. Constitution that would continue the state’s ban on same-sex marriages. The ballot measure, called Amendment One, has incited protests on and off college campuses in favor of equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. Student groups, such as Duke Together Against Constitutional Discrimination, are actively working to mobilize voters to oppose the amendment, and the University has reaffirmed its commitment to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
The New Hanover County commissioners withdrew a one-quarter cent sales tax referendum from the November ballot, and will instead consider putting it before the voters in May 2010. The main reason for changing course was because of uncertainty in Raleigh, where state legislators are considering increasing the sales tax to help close the state’s budget gap, the commissioners said Monday.
At its July 14 meeting, the town council voted 3-2 to approve putting liquor-by-the-drink and ABC stores referenda on the ballot in November. The move gives residents the opportunity to approve or reject one or both of the measures. The meeting was held in the cafeteria of Stokesdale Elementary School instead of the town hall because a large crowd was expected. A crowd of concerned residents showed up to speak for and against the referenda.
That’s all about to change, however. Spurred by the promise of bigger revenues, the Cherokee people voted “yes” in a ballot measure last Thursday (June 4) that will allow drink sales at the casino. The casino will become the only place on the Cherokee Reservation, known as the Qualla Boundary, where beer, wine or liquor can be sold or served. Nearly 50 percent of registered voters turned out to cast ballots in the monumental election. It passed comfortably with a vote of 1,847 to 1,301. The vote was held in conjunction with a primary election for tribal council seats.
The Greenwood-White River Township Reorganization Committee is moving along cautiously and carefully to see if merger would benefit both sides.
You have no statewide Initiative & Referendum rights.
Poll:
See the results of a poll on support for statewide initiative & referendum here.
Grade: F
Click here to view North Carolina’s individual report in Of the People, By the People, For the People: A 2010 Report Card on Statewide Voter Initiative Rights.
Though unsuccessful at the state level, initiative and referendum
backers managed by 1917 to persuade the legislature to grant local I&R
powers to the citizens of nine North Carolina cities.
Article XIII
Sec. 1. Convention of the People.
No Convention of the People of this State shall ever be called unless by
the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members of each house of the
General Assembly, and unless the proposition “Convention or No
Convention” is first submitted to the qualified voters of the State at the
time and in the manner prescribed by the General Assembly. If a majority
of the votes cast upon the proposition are in favor of a Convention, it shall
assemble on the day prescribed by the General Assembly. The General
Voters would be asked to extend legislators’ terms from two years to four years under a bill that nearly 60 members of the House co-sponsored last week.
The measure raises an issue in perennial discussion over the past decade, with backers saying less-frequent elections would mean less time spent raising money to run for office.
“It would take half the money out of it,” said Rep. Hugh Holliman, a Lexington Democrat and the House majority leader. “We start the session, spend our first year here, and then we spend the whole second year campaigning.”
State Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-51st, announced last week in a press release that he will file a bill prior to the 2009 legislative session that will provide for a recall process to remove elected officials at the state and county levels.
Under current Alabama law, only municipal officials are subject to recall.
“Accountability by elected officials to the taxpayers is the key to good government,” Treadaway said.