Posted on 11/05/2023 6:42:49 AM PST by cotton1706
Ballot initiatives are an essential evolution of American democracy. Created over a century ago, they give millions of Americans a direct means to shape the laws that govern their lives and a check on legislative power when it’s not responsive to the people. In recent months, though, conservative politicians’ efforts to undermine the ballot process have taken a disturbing shift. Beyond their continued attempts to impose supermajority voter thresholds to make passing such initiatives nearly impossible, they have also resorted to manipulating ballot titles to deliberately confuse voters. The 2023 elections are a testing ground for this insidious tactic. Unless met head-on, it will spread like wildfire in 2024.
The ballot title is a concise summary intended to accurately convey the gist of a proposed law or measure. For many voters, this title is the only information they see before casting their ballots. As a result, the title needs to be accurate, concise and impartial. Research has shown that the change in ballot language dramatically impacts the support of initiative.
States differ in laws governing whether the ballot title is determined before signatures are collected or after. In some states, the government determines the ballot title before signatures are collected, without the direct input of the citizens who initiated the petition. This happens in states like Arizona, Michigan and Nebraska, and further highlights the importance of ensuring that the government’s role in determining the ballot title is transparent and impartial.
Roughly two-thirds of states with ballot initiatives, including California, Massachusetts, Missouri and Ohio, use ballot titles that rely on language within the petition. This approach ensures continuity and fairness, as the language in the petition was shared during voter outreach. But while a fundamental aspect of direct democracy is preserved, this method remains vulnerable to manipulation by disingenuous politicians.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Countless in my voting experience.
This is a ballot 'tactic' to 'confuse' voters.
But when the shoe is on the other foot, well...
Forgot the link
I used to live in OR & this was EXACTLY what the leftist SoS did to our ballot initiatives.
Not just mail-in.
Early voting.
Any excuse absentee.
Electronic voting machines.
And the latest: bans on hand-counting of ballots.
And if there’s no election fraud...then why is Deep State arresting people for talking about it? 🤔
Before cheap information and the global reach of activism by billionaires, it might have made some sense.
Now, it is a way for billionaire activists to impose their will on polities across the nation.
They control the narrative with millions of dollars in targeted ads, controlling digital access to information, and the cooperation of the main-stream media.
I have seen it happen several times.
Amen, brother!
While I try to educate myself on everything that will be on the ballot before voting, even that is lacking in information. Therefore, if I do not believe I know enough about the initiative, including who is behind them, or against them, then I vote against them. I would guess the majority of voters just read the title. Since citizenship requires responsibility, one who chooses not to try to educate themselves ahead of time, should abstain - but citizenship responsibility is neither taught nor encouraged today.
One final point. My recent on-line searches for known authors and specific articles that have a particular “viewpoint” do not appear in the first 5 - 10 pages (if at all) in the results.
Therefore, bigtech censorship in the publicc square is happening, and articles that might help educate oneself on the initiatives should be expected to be one-sided ... and what the leftists want the searcher to see. That’s one reason to identify who supports the initiatives ... if there is any left support for it, you know to vote “no”.
“The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government”
I regard legally binding ballot initiatives as unconstitutional.
“They control the narrative with millions of dollars in targeted ads, controlling digital access to information, and the cooperation of the main-stream media.”
Exactly right. I see this now, even outside the ballot initiatives.
That was cruel. I shall not make that mistake again!
In my state ballot initiatives are largely funded and bolstered by special interest groups hooked up with crooked legislators to get money or advantages that the voters ordinarily would not consider IF the wording of the initiatives weren’t so duplicitous.
More times than no they actually differ from the in-pocket proposed legislation and are diametrically opposite - outright lies.
I just usually vote no on all of them.
Do you look into a mirror much? Lying dumb-a$$!
I guess it is fine if Democrats do it.
The RINOs in Ohio did this exact thing in August. They tried to make it nearly impossible for citizen’s petitions to succeed by not only requiring petitions from all 88 counties, 60 percent total, and totally doing away with the 10 day grace for signature rejection and settlement period. The elimination of the 10 day grace period was not revealed prior to the August vote. Frank LaRose, POS is running for senator. This was a criminal act directed at we the people
““The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government”
I regard legally binding ballot initiatives as unconstitutional.”
Having done an enormous amount of study and having written a book on republican government, I disagree with this point.
In simplest terms, a republic is rule by law (as opposed to rule by men, which monarchy, aristocracy and democracy are), where the laws are made by more than one person (an assembly of persons, thus a legislature).
In the case of a ballot initiative, the people themselves act as their own legislature, in that it is they who are making the law, instead of delegating their legislative power to representatives to make the law.
But the ballot initiative, in my opinion, is still republican since the resulting law applies to all.
But to your point, a ballot initiative is the closest thing to an actual democracy that we can see. For in a democracy, all the people gather in one place to vote (which never happens and is very unwieldy), and even then, the it is rule by majority over the minority, leading to tyranny. Whereas in a republic, even if the people make their own laws, the law apply to the majority AS WELL as the minority.
If the bill’s title is the only information most voters have than maybe they shouldn’t be voting
It’s not like it takes a long time to find out all the information you need before hand
If you are to busy on a day that is known as the day to vote, either you don't know the issues, or you don't give a Fig...
If it is too confusing to understand then I would not vote yes or no.
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