Free Republic

Texas voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment on Tuesday that adds noncitizens to the list of individuals prohibited from voting in state elections, reinforcing that only US citizens are eligible to cast ballots. Proposition 16 passed with over 71 percent support as of Wednesday afternoon. The measure amends the Texas Constitution to explicitly include “persons who are not citizens of the United States” among those barred from voting. The list already includes convicted felons who have not met certain conditions for reinstatement and individuals deemed mentally incompetent by a court. By placing the citizenship requirement directly into the state constitution, the...

A November Colorado ballot measure would ban all borrowing by the state and severely restrict it at the municipal level, making Colorado the only state whose agencies would be unable to issue debt, municipal experts say. Nor would state agencies be able to turn to banks. The measure—an amendment to the state constitution requiring a simple majority to pass—was backed by 36% of voters surveyed in August by a Colorado pollster, even though both Republicans and Democrats have called it fiscal suicide. While that is well short of a majority, the prospect of passage has set off a rush to...

Coloradans are overloaded with 18 individual state ballot questions this year, more than at any time since 1912. Simplistic, misleading and inflammatory radio and TV ads - on all sides - generate more heat than light. While I've discussed many of these at length on my radio show, there's only room here for a brief summary and my recommendations.

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California's campaign watchdog voted Friday to limit the size of donations to candidate-controlled ballot measure committees, closing a loophole that's enabled Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to raise millions of dollars in six-figure contributions. The Fair Political Practices Commission voted 4-1 to adopt a regulation that will put the same limits on donations to ballot measure committees run by candidates and officeholders as voter-approved Proposition 34 imposes on contributions made directly to candidates. But the change won't take effect until the day after the Nov. 2 election, which will allow Schwarzenegger and others to continue to raise vast sums...