local government
The Dallas City Secretary has created this list of polling places for the upcoming May 9 election. Also listed are Propositions 1 and 2. Proposition 1 would prevent the city from owning a hotel. Proposition 2 would require voter approval anytime the city gives more than $1,000,000 to a private developer.
Read the story from the Dallas Morning News
Riverside County supervosors are considering putting a measure on the ballot to ask voters if they have confidence in electronic voting machines. In 2007 California Secretary of State Debra Bowen decertified the machines, citing security vulnerabilities, and then set conditions for their limited use.
A group of Missoula, MT citizens has begun a petition against proposed zoning changes in the city. The changes would allow for more development and higher density.
A group of Marshall citizens began a petition drive to put term limits for city officials to a vote of the people. Residents decided to use the ballot initiative process after the city council voted not to put the matter on the ballot. The proposed charter amendment will need 731 signatures to make the 2010 ballot.
A group of citizens attempting to recall the mayor of Akron is set to turn in signatures today. Recall supporters must have 3,179 valid signatures to trigger a recall election. If the signature threshold is met, the mayor will have five days to resign. If he doesn’t resign, a recall election will be scheduled for 40-60 days after.
The Associated Students of the University of California Senate has moved to put six propositions on the upcoming ballot. Two propositions would modify the process to recall an elected official, two would remove typos, another would modify the proposition process and the last would simplify requirements for the placement of polling locations.Each proposition would need 60% of the vote to pass.
Read the story from the Daily Californian
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The developer of a project to turn the former Navy Yard at Alameda Point into a housing development has began a petition drive for a measure that would increase the density limit for the area. Current Alameda law prohibits structures larger than a duplex, but developers would like to put in higher density units. A group of local citizens has already formed to oppose the measure.
In addition to electing two statewide offices and several local races, Wisconsinites voted on several referendums Tuesday. Voters in six school districts weighed in on funding referendums.
The battle over two ballot measures dealing with the city’s redevelopment authority and a new city hall went the Nevada Supreme Court Tuesday. City officials have refused to place the measures on the ballot because they claim they are unconstitutional. The Culinary Union, sponsor of the two initiatives, filed suit arguing that the city does not have the authority to hold the measures off the ballot. The court is expected to rule by April 22.
City officials are considering a challenge to a recent Arizona Supreme Court ruling that requires officials to use a lower signature threshold to verify referendum petitions than previously used. On March 26 the Arizona Court of Appeals a lower court decision that held Phoenix’s method for evaluating petitions violated the state’s constitution. The case hinges on what election signature requirement should be tied to.
Illinois voters will head to the polls Tuesday to vote on a variety of issues. Advisory referendums dealing with issues ranging from tax measures to highway construction to secession from counties will be up for a vote.
A Denver man is has reworked his proposed ballot initiative that would create a city commission to study extraterrestrials. An attempt to put the measure on the May 2008 ballot failed to get the 4,000 required signatures.
Voters in Gainesville, FL rejected a charter amendment that would have removed protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender residents 58 to 42 percent. The final vote was 11,717 against the amendment and 8,375 in favor.
Activists in Ann Arbor, MI have began collecting the 5,250 signatures needed to qualify a city charter amendment that would require the city to put borrowing decisions to the voters. The initiative stems from a funding battle over a $47 million police-court complex currently under construction. Proponents say that the measure would only apply to borrowing that is to be paid back by city taxes.
A petition to put $18 million in bonds for a new justice center in Austin, MN to a vote was submitted with 1,100 signatures yesterday. The county attorney has claimed that the petition is not valid because the law which authorized the bonds is not subject to a vote. Petitioners have vowed to pursue the matter with the state if necessary.