I realize this puts me in a minority, but I am not a big fan of voter initiatives. Some states vote on amendments to the state constitution, but the function is the same: an idea for whatever reason cannot be forced through the state legislature, so a sufficient number of signatures is collected to put the item on the ballot, where ordinary citizens can make it law. Supporters say this is the very heart of the democratic process, giving Joe and Jane Average political power over the representatives they, um, elected to government.
These initiatives always have titles and descriptions that make them sound like good things, if not complete no-brainers. The Initiative to Hug Cute Bunny Rabbits, for example. Washington’s I-884 is described as “concerns dedicating funds designated for educational purposes.” Gee, how can you not vote for dedicating money to schools you heartless oaf?
The problem is that this description, like that of many initiatives, is misleading. This one raises sales taxes, and theoretically earmarks the money raised from this tax for education only for the next two years. Such initiatives are often boiled down to their summary paragraph form from pages of legalese (11 pages in this case) that frankly, nobody wants to read in detail. You just have to take their word for what it says.
This process has also been hijacked by special interests seeking to avoid legislative “interference” in their agenda. There’s big money and big players involved, subverting the noble sounding idea of citizens forcing important ideas into law.
Another reason I don’t like voter initiatives is that they often if not always have unintended consequences. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and suggest maybe that’s why the legislature couldn’t get the idea passed in the first place. Voters vote themselves lower taxes and therefore there is no money for fixing roads. Voters vote to make certain kinds of animal traps illegal and it is suddenly hard to get rid of nuissance coyotes and raccoons. The highest profile example is California’s “3 strikes” law, passed by voters years ago. The practical result was that people were getting harsh sentences for minor crimes, just because it happened to be the “third strike.” Such laws are also blamed as a factor in current record level prison populations. So now, California is having a ballot initiative to repeal a ballot initiative.
Also, because we don’t vote every month, we end up seeing many of these initiatives all at once. Sometimes, we see them for the first time on Election Day. Florida has 8 to worry about. Washington has 5, California has 16. Your milage may vary, but it might take some time to figure them all out if you don’t like my method of dealing with them.
I will be voting NO on each and every voter initiative on this November’s ballot.
There’s a referendum issue as well — the one on charter schools. This has already passed the state legislature, so would be law if not for the referendum petition. I’m voting yes on this one, primarily for that reason.