Comments on: Ballot Initiatives: Making The Grade? http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/ballot-initiatives-making-the-grade-10161/ Nationally Acclaimed Politics, Science and Culture Coverage Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:00:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: arlindsayhttp://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/ballot-initiatives-making-the-grade-10161/#comment-2745 arlindsay Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:03:48 +0000 http://www.miller-mccune.com/?p=10161#comment-2745 I applaud the writers for extracting from BISC the admission that they oppose "an electoral system dominated solely by citizens."  Strip away the rhetoric about transparency, fraud, process, etc. and you find an organization seeking to control which measures appear on the ballot.  Stalin said, "The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything"  BISC goes further.  Why risk having the wrong people count the votes when you can control which issues appear on the ballot? I applaud the writers for extracting from BISC the admission that they oppose “an electoral system dominated solely by citizens.”  Strip away the rhetoric about transparency, fraud, process, etc. and you find an organization seeking to control which measures appear on the ballot.  Stalin said, “The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything”  BISC goes further.  Why risk having the wrong people count the votes when you can control which issues appear on the ballot?

]]> By: Leslie Graveshttp://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/ballot-initiatives-making-the-grade-10161/#comment-2615 Leslie Graves Sat, 27 Feb 2010 20:59:42 +0000 http://www.miller-mccune.com/?p=10161#comment-2615 Although our article on Ballotpedia doesn't say this in a prominent place, <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_1A_%282008%29" rel="nofollow">California's Proposition 1A in 2008</a> was <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Statewide_bond_propositions_%28California%29" rel="nofollow">bond proposition</a> referred to the ballot by the California state legislature...not a citizen-initiated measure.Similarly, for example, <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_2010_ballot_propositions#Qualified_for_June_8_ballot" rel="nofollow">3 of the 5 measures on the June 8 ballot</a> this year in California are referred (not initiated) measures.Overall for 2010 statewide ballots, of the approximately <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Ballotpedia%27s_Tuesday_Count_for_2010" rel="nofollow">70 measures that have so far been certified</a> for ballots, <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Ballot_Measure_Scorecard,_2010#tab=Amendments" rel="nofollow">most are referrals.</a><em>(Ed -- Thanks for pointing that out. We have amended the story.)</em> Although our article on Ballotpedia doesn’t say this in a prominent place, California’s Proposition 1A in 2008 was bond proposition referred to the ballot by the California state legislature…not a citizen-initiated measure.

Similarly, for example, 3 of the 5 measures on the June 8 ballot this year in California are referred (not initiated) measures.

Overall for 2010 statewide ballots, of the approximately 70 measures that have so far been certified for ballots, most are referrals.

(Ed — Thanks for pointing that out. We have amended the story.)

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