Pubdate: Thu, 24 Oct 2002
Source: Christian Science Monitor (US)
Copyright: 2002 The Christian Science Publishing Society
Contact:  http://www.csmonitor.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/83
Author: Abraham McLaughlin,  Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

WAVE OF BALLOT MEASURES THIS FALL VEERS LEFT

Fifty-three initiatives cover cockfights, class size, marijuana laws, and pigs.

Back in the 1990s, many high-profile citizen ballot initiatives across the 
country had a Rush Limbaugh conservativism driving them: They aimed to cut 
taxes, bust up affirmative action, impose term limits, allow school 
vouchers, and toughen crime policy.

But this year's big initiatives suddenly have a Ralph Nader-like slant: 
They would provide universal healthcare in Oregon, legalize marijuana in 
Nevada, institute same-day voter registration in California and Colorado, 
and even protect pregnant pigs in Florida.

Such is the ebb and flow of America's purest form of democratic governance. 
This year, even initiatives themselves are getting fresh scrutiny - with 
several measures aiming to limit their power and scope.

While some conservative initiatives are on this fall's ballots - such as 
English-immersion plans for students in Massachusetts and Colorado - the 
shift toward more liberal initiatives is dramatic. The most-common kinds of 
measures aim to reform drug policy, education, elections, gambling, fiscal 
policy, and to protect animals, according to the Initiative and Referendum 
Institute. "The progressive issues have come to the surface," says Dane 
Waters, president of the conservative Washington-based group.

The liberal shift

One reason for the shift: Republicans have steadily gained power in state 
governments over the past decade, leaving Democrats and other liberals to 
resort to ballot initiatives to pursue their agenda. In fact, in 19 of the 
24 states that allow initiatives, Republicans control either the governor's 
office or the legislature or both.

Another simple reason for the shift: Some of the conservative measures of 
the 1990s have simply run their course. "You can't impose term limits over 
and over again," observes Kristina Wilfore, head of the liberal Ballot 
Initiative Strategy Center in Washington.

Also, after a decade of seeing conservative measures succeed at the ballot 
box, liberals have geared up. "Progressives have been slow to come to the 
table," says Ms. Kilgore. But in the past couple of years, she says, 
they've realized that "love it or hate it, the initiative process isn't 
going away - so let's use it for progressive interests." Her Ballot 
Initiative Strategy Center, formed in 1998, is one sign of the new vigor.

Take drug policy. There's the high-profile bid in Nevada to legalize 
possession of up to three ounces of marijuana. That measure, like many on 
both ends of the political spectrum, is being pushed by a national group 
aiming to turn the tide in its favor state by state.

There's also a bid in Arizona to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. 
In Ohio, voters will decide whether to require drug treatment - rather than 
incarceration - for nonviolent drug offenders.

In South Dakota, two initiatives would affect drug policy. One would 
legalize the growing, selling, and buying of industrial hemp, a 
marijuana-related plant used to make fabrics, clothes, and other items. The 
other would enable criminal defendants to argue that the law they're being 
tried under is bad public policy - and therefore that they shouldn't be 
convicted. Drug-reform advocates support this plan - and envision this 
argument being made about drug laws.

Gambling expansion efforts - typically opposed by conservative church 
groups - include allowing a lottery in Tennessee and letting North Dakota 
join a multistate lottery.

Animal-rights initiatives include the Florida plan to ban small crates for 
pregnant sows used by pork producers. And if the polls are right, 
Oklahomans will ban the traditional pastime of cockfighting - something the 
legislature has refused to do for years. An Arkansas plan would boost 
penalties for animal cruelty.

Election-reform efforts include California and Colorado measures to allow 
voter registration on election day. This would bring more people to the 
polls, which typically helps Democrats. Critics say it will create chaos.

This year's education initiatives are less ideologically clear-cut. Debates 
are raging in Colorado and Massachusetts about phasing out bilingual 
education in favor of English-immersion programs. California and Arizona 
have already passed such measures.

Florida's voters will decide whether to mandate smaller class sizes - and 
provide prekindergarten classes for every child in the state. A California 
measure to expand after-school programs has gotten cash and cachet from 
actor-cum-politico Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Initiatives on initiatives

Despite the wide variety of initiatives this year, there is evidence of a 
drop off in government by the ballot box. This year's total of 53 
initiatives represents a 30-percent drop from 2000 and the fewest since 1986.

Indeed, citizen-led campaigns are getting more costly and complicated than 
ever - state legislatures, courts, and even citizen groups are getting 
increasingly hostile to the strategy.

Nowhere is that more evident than in Oregon, where one measure would ban 
clipboard-toting signature gatherers from being paid per signature. That 
practice results in overzealous tactics, supporters say. But critics think 
the measure would make the democratic process more costly.

Grass-roots groups have discovered that it is cheaper to prevent an idea 
from getting onto the ballot - rather than waging a costly "vote no" 
campaign. In Oregon, opponents torpedoed an antiunion measure, in part by 
shadowing signature gatherers and encouraging citizens to "Think before you 
ink" - to carefully weigh signing the petition.

In all, "the cost of conducting a signature campaign," says University of 
Virginia initiatives expert Howard Ernst, "has never been higher."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom