Ballot measures

[CARLHAYDEN]

Commonly overlooked is the importance of ballot measures.  Some that facially appear to have qualified for the ballot in Arizona (final checking has yet to be completed) are:

A. Referendums (these will be on the ballot)

  1. Marriage.  Banning gay marriage but not civil unions.

  2. State Legislator's Salaries.

B. Initiatives (most, possibly all, will be on the ballot)

  1.  Homeowners

    a. Protect Our Homes.  Would prevent taxes on real estate transfer.

    b. Homeowners Bill of Rights.  Further protections against shoddy construction of homes.

  2.  Big business financed

    a. Stop Illegal Hiring.  In fact, this would make it impossible to stop hiring of illegal aliens.

    b. TIME.  New taxes for construction of roads.

    c. Payday Loan Reform Act.  Minor regulations on payday lenders sponsored by payday        lenders.

  3.  Others

    a. Majority Rule.  Require majority of voters to approve initiative tax increase.

    b. Conserving Arizona Land and Water.  Ecofreak measure.

    c.  Arizona Civil Rights Initiative.  Preventing state and local government from preferential  treatment based on race, sex, etc.

    d. Medical Choice for Arizona.  Reigning in HMOs and PPOs.

[Alcon]

You have 11+ meaningful, non-technical measures on your ballot?  Yikes

[CARLHAYDEN]

You have 11+ meaningful, non-technical measures on your ballot?  Yikes

Well, one or two may not make the ballot (the Secretary of State hasn't certified them yet).

[Flying Dog]

MI ballot initiatives include:

-Medical Marijuana: people who are terminally and seriously ill would be able to legally use marijuana if a doctor certified that the drug could ease their suffering.

-Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Under the ballot proposal, the state constitution would be amended to allow scientists to derive embryonic stem cells from human embryos for medical research.

-Government Reform: The grab bag of reforms would:

• Slash the Senate from 38 to 28 members, the House from 110 to 82 members, the Supreme Court from seven to five justices and the state appeals court from 28 to 21 judges; add 10 judges to lower courts.

• Cut state government from 20 to 18 departments.

• Set up a nine-member commission for legislative redistricting, four from each party with a nonpartisan leader. Now, the party in power controls the process.

• Allow anyone to vote absentee. Now, you have to be sick, elderly or otherwise unable to get to the polls.

• Allow people to vote in primaries without declaring a party affiliation.

• Strengthen a ban against voting by illegal immigrants.

• Cut the salaries of lawmakers, the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state 25 percent, and Supreme Court justices and judges 15 percent.

• Limit retirement benefits for all state elected officials to no more than what retired state employees get.

• Require legislators, the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and justices and judges each year to report their incomes and assets, as well as those of their spouses.

• Ban lawmakers and top government officials from lobbying for two years after they leave office.

Democrats support it because it would make the Judicial system more Liberal in the state.

[DownWithTheLeft]

Wow all NJ ever votes on is stupid things like creating new useless positions and open space projects.  Occassionaly we might get the exciting one of adding more fluoride to the water

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Minnesota only has ballot measures for amendments to the state constitution. So we get to vote on the exciting proposal of a 10-year sales tax of 3/8 of a percent to fund the arts and outdoor preservation! Woohoo!

[Brittain33]

Massachusetts will have votes to end greyhound racing (failed in 2000) and to completely abolish the income tax (narrowly lost in 2000 or 2002, and will be ignored if it passes.)

[JohnnyLongtorso]

No constitutional amendments on the ballot in Virginia this year as far as I know.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Massachusetts will have votes to end greyhound racing (failed in 2000) and to completely abolish the income tax (narrowly lost in 2000 or 2002, and will be ignored if it passes.)

There's also a marijuana decriminalization question on the ballot: "Massachusetts Sensible Marijuana Policy Initiative."

It changes possession of one ounce of marijuana from a criminal penalty to a civil penalty punishable by a ticket and $100 fine.

It has pretty wide support and is expected to pass.

[WalterMitty]

Massachusetts will have votes to end greyhound racing (failed in 2000) and to completely abolish the income tax (narrowly lost in 2000 or 2002, and will be ignored if it passes.)

There's also a marijuana decriminalization question on the ballot: "Massachusetts Sensible Marijuana Policy Initiative."

It changes possession of one ounce of marijuana from a criminal penalty to a civil penalty punishable by a ticket and $100 fine.

It has pretty wide support and is expected to pass.

i am going to vote for it (i signed the petition to get it on the ballot)

but im not so sure it will pass.

the voters in massachusetts voted down the measure that would allow wine to be sold- in grocery stores.  chief bob bradley of somerville police did that absolutely hideous commercial.  just horrible.  his stupid accent and propaganda combined to make me want to vomit on the floor.

apparently, selling wine in grocery stores is very very dangerous!

[Verily]

Massachusetts will have votes to end greyhound racing (failed in 2000) and to completely abolish the income tax (narrowly lost in 2000 or 2002, and will be ignored if it passes.)

There's also a marijuana decriminalization question on the ballot: "Massachusetts Sensible Marijuana Policy Initiative."

It changes possession of one ounce of marijuana from a criminal penalty to a civil penalty punishable by a ticket and $100 fine.

It has pretty wide support and is expected to pass.

i am going to vote for it (i signed the petition to get it on the ballot)

but im not so sure it will pass.

the voters in massachusetts voted down the measure that would allow wine to be sold- in grocery stores.  chief bob bradley of somerville police did that absolutely hideous commercial.  just horrible.  his stupid accent and propaganda combined to make me want to vomit on the floor.

apparently, selling wine in grocery stores is very very dangerous!

It's funny. That's something which people would vote against because, "It's the way we've always done things, no need to change." But marijuana is not something where the primary attitude will be about resisting change because, unlike liquor sales, marijuana is not an "old" issue. That, I think, makes it more likely to pass. Although you do never know.

An obvious comparison for me here in Bergen County, NJ are the blue laws banning most stores from opening on Sundays. Referenda regularly reaffirm the ban because it's familiar even though Bergen County would almost certainly support something like lowering marijuana possession penalties.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Its pretty clear at this point that the TIME Measure is dead!  The tax increase measure had one of the highest invalidity rates in signatures I have every seen.

There's another measure that is on thin ice as the signature certification process is progressing.

[MarkWarner08]

Oregon:


Kevin Mannix and Bill Sizemore, two kooky conservatives, are up to their usual tricks. Mannix has a ballot measure that would divert lottery proceeds from education to paying for more prisons. Sizemore is out with another anti-union ballot measure. Sizemore has a personal vendetta against the teachers' union which has successfully sued him numerous times.

[MaxQue]

Oregon:


Kevin Mannix and Bill Sizemore, two kooky conservatives, are up to their usual tricks. Mannix has a ballot measure that would divert lottery proceeds from education to paying for more prisons. Sizemore is out with another anti-union ballot measure. Sizemore has a personal vendetta against the teachers' union which has successfully sued him numerous times.

Do will past they?

[MarkWarner08]

Oregon:


Kevin Mannix and Bill Sizemore, two kooky conservatives, are up to their usual tricks. Mannix has a ballot measure that would divert lottery proceeds from education to paying for more prisons. Sizemore is out with another anti-union ballot measure. Sizemore has a personal vendetta against the teachers' union which has successfully sued him numerous times.

Do will past they?

Sizemore also has a measure to lower contingency fees for trial lawyers. The Mannix crime measures, which appeal to suburban votes, are most likely to pass.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Commonly overlooked is the importance of ballot measures.  Some that facially appear to have qualified for the ballot in Arizona (final checking has yet to be completed) are:

A. Referendums (these will be on the ballot)

  1. Marriage.  Banning gay marriage but not civil unions.

  2. State Legislator's Salaries.

B. Initiatives (most, possibly all, will be on the ballot)

  1.  Homeowners

    a. Protect Our Homes.  Would prevent taxes on real estate transfer.

    b. Homeowners Bill of Rights.  Further protections against shoddy construction of homes.

  2.  Big business financed

    a. Stop Illegal Hiring.  In fact, this would make it impossible to stop hiring of illegal aliens.

    b. TIME.  New taxes for construction of roads.

    c. Payday Loan Reform Act.  Minor regulations on payday lenders sponsored by payday        lenders.

  3.  Others

    a. Majority Rule.  Require majority of voters to approve initiative tax increase.

    b. Conserving Arizona Land and Water.  Ecofreak measure.

    c.  Arizona Civil Rights Initiative.  Preventing state and local government from preferential  treatment based on race, sex, etc.

    d. Medical Choice for Arizona.  Reigning in HMOs and PPOs.

both the TIME and ecofreak measures have met their final legal death (the Arizona Supreme Court ruled against them). 

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

South Carolina has three constitutional amendments on the ballot this year, all fairly technical.  Not surprising, since the only amendments that get on the ballot are put there by the General Assembly.  (SC has a three stage process to amend the constitution, with the ballot question being stage 2.  Stages 1 and 3 are approval by two separate General Assemblies.

#1 Removes the constitutionally set age of consent of 14 (for unmarried females only) so as to make the age of consent a legislative issue (which with the law that is already in place would be 16 for both sexes).

I suspect someone charged with bonking a 14 or 15 year old raised the constitutional provision as a defense and won to cause the GA to put this one on the ballot.

#2 and 3 are technical amendments wanted because changes in accounting standards require splitting off trust funds for retirement benefits (i.e. health insurance) from those for retirement pensions.  The newly split off funds don't have the same leeway in investment options that the pension funds already had.

#2 Allows the state to invest trust funds for retirement benefits (such as health insurance) in stocks.

#3 Allows local governments to invest trust funds for retirement benefits (such as health insurance) in stocks.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Update on Arizona Ballot Measures

Prop. 100  Protect Homeowners against transfer taxes wond big (76.9%)

Prop. 101  To protect against HMO abuse narrowly lost (49.9% support)

Prop. 102  Protect Marriage handily won (56.5%)

Prop. 105  Require majority vote to increase taxes lost badly (34.3% support).

Prop. 200  To protect Payday loan industry lost (40.9% support)

Prop. 201  Trial lawyer backed effort to increase lawsuits against builders (22.1% support)

Prop. 202  Effort to allow hiring of illegal aliens lost handily (40.9% support)

Prop. 300  Effort to increase state legislative salaries lost handily (35.5% support)