Past California ballot initiatives have shown the perils of governing at the election booth.
Hey, what are the couple of local races or ballot initiatives you think will have national implications?
In November, voters in two California cities defeated ballot initiatives that would have imposed taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages.
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Its supporters argued that Californians long have had the right to change their state constitution through ballot initiatives.
Thirteen states and more than 500 municipalities have passed ballot initiatives calling on Congress to propose a constitutional amendment.
Voters in 38 states have been asked to decide on 176 ballot initiatives, ranging from highly contentious to simply unusual.
It was voters, for example, who by means of ballot initiatives insisted that the state spend more money on schools and stem-cell research.
It was he, as governor in 1978, who had to implement (having opposed it) Proposition 13, the most infamous of all ballot initiatives.
Take for example the state of Arizona, where voters sorted through 19 ballot initiatives, eight House races, one Senate race and chose a governor.
The policy is gaining respect among the party's most powerful groups, which, until now, have been slow to attach much importance to ballot initiatives.
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The Department of Justice has said that they are reviewing these ballot initiatives to which you refer, and I would direct you to them for updates.
California's governorship is a pretty weak one: the state's government is a mess of competing districts, counties and cities, with much of the budget mandated by ballot initiatives.
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The books will not balance unless California's voters permit the state government to raid programmes for children and the mentally ill which they had previously created through ballot initiatives.
Before elections, candidates of both parties are happy to boast about their clever get-out-the-vote operations, special-interest campaigns or ballot initiatives designed to lure specific voter groups to the polls.
Nine states and the District of Columbia issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, including three states -- Maryland, Washington, and Maine -- where voters approved it in ballot initiatives last year.
No overriding themes in this year's many ballot initiatives.
But having watched conservatives in action on other ballot initiatives, Democratic politicians have learnt that the best way to deal with this sort of nuance and lack of evidence is to profess total confidence and brand your opponents as wicked.
ECONOMIST: A Democratic dodge for getting supporters to the polls
Given the fact that all we are talking about are gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, mayoral contests in a handful of major cities (led by New York and Detroit), and a bevy of ballot initiatives and referenda, it's hard to find any real "message" from the results.
Twenty-four states allow direct initiatives (citizens putting measures directly on the ballot), indirect initiatives (first going through a state's legislature before being put onto the ballot), or both.
Californians have resorted to budgeting at the ballot box, passing initiatives that mandate how precious dollars must be spent.
In Mississippi, Missouri and Wyoming, on the other hand, voters backed measures making it harder to put initiatives on the ballot.
For one thing, the number of citizen-initiatives on the ballot, 61, represents a sharp decline from the peak of 102 in 1994.
The council could also place its own initiatives on the ballot.
Maynard's biggest concerns stem from two initiatives on the ballot: One, if passed, would limit state spending, and another would allow video keno, which is a form of electronic gambling.
In all, 37 states offered 160 ballot proposals, and the initiatives had no single unifying theme this November, unlike in 2004 and 2006, when voters saw same-sex marriage dominate ballots, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Ballot measures can take various forms, from initiatives to constitutional amendments, bond issues or referendums.
The committee's plan is to place two initiatives on next November's ballot.
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