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.

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.