BISC presents...BallotBlog!

Helena, Montana: Competing War Resolutions

An Iraq withdrawal resolution on the 2007 Helena, MT ballot has drawn a reactionary "pro-military" resolution, giving voters the chance to weigh in on both sides of one of the most emotional issues of the year.

From the Helena Independent Record:

City commissioners on Monday, in a 3-2 vote, approved the placement of the military-funding referendum on the ballot after hearing support from a handful of residents, among them a former governor and a former Helena legislator.

A wide-ranging commission debate lasted longer than the public hearing. Some officials said they saw no reason to deny the referendum, which was forwarded by a Helena couple. Others said the ballot issue, when combined with the Iraq war referendum — which commissioners approved in March — could result in conflicting messages.

“I just think there’s so much emotion,” Mayor Jim Smith said after the meeting. “I just felt like this would give everybody a chance to make their mark, state their opinion.”

Commissioner Sandy Oitzinger believes the Iraq war ballot issue stands on its own, allowing citizens to support or oppose the immediate, orderly and safe withdrawal of troops from the war-torn nation.

“I fear and feel that (this referendum) will muddy the waters,” she said.

Oregon 2008: Discriminatory Referendum

From the Oregonian:
A coalition, formed to oppose two recently passed gay-rights laws, took action Wednesday to refer the laws to voters in fall 2008.

The new political action committee -- called Defense of Marriage and Family, AGAIN! -- filed referendum papers with the secretary of state...

Jack Brown of Grants Pass, chairman of the Constitution Party, said he and two other petitioners will withdraw the referendum papers they filed Monday and join the coalition's efforts.

The coalition has a better chance of collecting the 55,179 signatures needed to refer each law, Brown said. The group, which must gather the signatures within 90 days after the Legislature adjourns, has a list of 129,000 households that supported Measure 36, Shannon said. 

The coalition is challenging Senate Bill 2, which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, work and public places, such as restaurants, and House Bill 2007, which creates legal domestic partnerships, giving state benefits of marriage to same-sex couples. Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed the landmark bills into law last week.

If the coalition collects the required signatures, the effective date of the laws will be postponed from Jan. 1, 2008, until Oregonians vote on them in the Nov. 4, 2008, general election.

AZ 2008: Pay Day Loan

Arizona legislators file a 2008 initiative to ban payday lending in Arizona. A few details.

Washington: No Kids, No Marriage

Kicking off the sort-of-New-Year with a doozie out in Washington state:

Proponents of same-sex marriage have introduced a ballot measure that would require heterosexual couples to have a child within three years or have their marriages annulled.

The Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance acknowledged on its Web site that the initiative was ''absurd'' but hoped the idea prompts ''discussion about the many misguided assumptions'' underlying a state Supreme Court ruling that upheld a ban on same-sex marriage.

The measure would require couples to prove they can have children to get a marriage license. Couples who do not have children within three years could have their marriages annulled.

All other marriages would be defined as ''unrecognized,'' making those couples ineligible for marriage benefits.

There are staff members at BISC who daydream about pushing this kind of initiative all the time - sly, witty, damning - instead of the healthy public policy for which we advocate on a daily basis. So we sit back and cheer on this type of thing somewhat wistfully, knowing that it is run without a chance in hell of passing and without any real strategy beyond a principled statement of fairness.

Sometimes that's enough - especially this early in the season.

Election Night: Keep Your Eyes On BallotBlog

Hi everyone. Welcome to BISC's Election Day coverage. We will be keeping you in the loop on all of the ballot initiative results tonight, so stay tuned right here.

More to come later today...

1:30

    TABOR (Howie Rich's initiatives) fails in Maine, Oregon, and Nebraska.

   

California renewable energy has been defeated.

    Montana’s lobbying reform initiative passes.

   

Oregon Roundup
    Eminent domain reform passes.
    Federal personal tax exemption for state tax credit fails.
    TABOR fails.
    Two inter-related campaign finance reform measures split.

12:45 PM

    Colorado
    No legalized marijuana.
    Yes to restricting elected officials from becoming lobbyists.
    No to the restrictive “65% solution” for funding education.
    No to allowing initiatives at all levels of Colorado government.

    Arizona
    Yes to a real smoking ban
    No to the tobacco-industry measure meant to confuse voters.
    Yes to Howie Rich’s regulatory takings measure.

    South Dakota
    Yes to a tobacco tax.
    No to revoking judicial immunity, allowing criminals to sue judges and juries.

    Idaho
    Yes to a gay marriage ban.

11:45 PM

    South Dakota rejects the draconian abortion ban passed earlier this year!

11:25 PM

    Arizonans do not want to give $1,000,000 to one lucky voter, just for voting.

    But they do want to raise their minimum wage.

11:15 PM

    Florida looks like it will increase to 60% + 1 the passage of all future constitutional    
    amendments (initiatives and referenda).

11 PM - Good news.

    Montana and Nevada will raise their states' minimum wage.

10:45 PM - Bad news.

    Tennessee and Wisconsin will ban gay marriage.

    Michigan will ban affirmative action in education and hiring. Michigan has rejected annual         public education increases tied to inflation.  

    Ohio will maintain its prohibition on slot machine gambling.

    Banning Kelo-style eminent domain (not to be confused with regulatory takings) will pass in         New Hampshire and South Carolina.

9:30 PM

    Banning Kelo-style eminent domain (not to be confused with regulatory takings) will pass in         Georgia and Florida.

     Florida tobacco settlement money for tobacco prevention will likely pass.

9 PM

    Exit polling projects that Arizona's English as the official language amendment will pass. 

8:30 PM

    SC same sex marriage ban wins.

8 PM: Wow, CNN is calling this stuff early. So take these with a grain of salt:

    MO minimum wage wins.
    OH minimum wage wins.
    TN same sex marriage ban wins.
 

7 PM: CNN is projecting that Virginia will be making gay marriage (and all domestic partnership benefits) illegal.

National Politics: How Howie Rich Moves His Money

Howie Rich from New York City is unfamiliar to most voters. But his money may decide how many states conduct business after the Novemeber elections. Click on the images below to see how Howie Rich from New York City is messing with your state. Check back here for a link to a new website launching this month that will keep up with Howie, his cronies, and his shenanigans. 

Click for PDF file.

Click for full-size image.

Multi-State: A Right-Wing Initiative Primer

If you're interested in how the Right uses ballot initiatives, how they move money and people to support those initiatives, and how they obscure the effect of those initiatives from the residents of the states they target, you should read this article.

Even if you're not interested in all of those pieces, please read this article.

Initiative Roundup 7/13/06

AZ: Does the anti-gay marriage petition violate the state's single subject provision? A new lawsuit says "why yes, it does."

Multi-State: New West covers the renewed property rights debates, some of which will happen around ballot initiatives. Some of those initiatives have some truly awful ideas attached.

MT: Minimum wage is on the ballot.

MI: The TABOR (SOS) in the The Wolverine State folks best stop obfuscating!

Initiative Roundup 7/11/06

MI: Anti-choicers just can't get enough...signatures, that is.

CO: Dems pass "tough, enforceable and humane" immigration legislation, keeping the issue off the November ballot. There may be some politics involved here.

MA: State Supreme Judicial Court says marriage discrimination can move forward for the 2008 ballot.

OH: Martin Olson of Lake Township wants to say thank you to Ken Blackwell for these [sarcasm]great ideas[/sarcasm]. We're not sure Blackwell will thank him back.

OK: We've been looking for a metaphor for the practices of TABOR signature gatherers. Now we look no further.

CA: Who could have imagined that gay marriage would ever be a big issue in a political race? Fascinating!

Initiative Roundup 7/10

Not necessarily initiative news, but lots of state action on the minimum wage. MA goes with $8.00, the highest in the nation. Wheeeeeeee!! Gov. Rendell hops on the minimum wage tidal wave, signing a $7.15 wage into law. Good on ya, Ed! Hey NC, why not make it a double today? And MS, listen to Skipper, would ya already?

On the minimum wage initiative front, the politicians are jumping in with gusto...
OH: Hillary Clinton and John Edwards love the minimum wage initiative!
NV: Harry Reid loves the minimum wage initiative!
More to come, I'm sure...

CO: A great wrap-up of the GLBT ballot measure battle royale. Four initiatives, one issue, one state. Wow.

OR: Parental notification makes an unwelcome return to the state that politely declined to pass it 16 years ago. May the 2006 version meet the same inglorious end. Also, a roundup of this year's contenders in Oregon.