Free Republic

The Florida Supreme Court has approved the wording of two amendments to the state constitution. The Florida Supreme Court rules that two constitutional amendments can be on the election ballot. The amendments include abortion access and the legalization of recreational marijuana. The deadline for the Supreme Court to rule on the ballot initiatives was Monday. Both of these issues will appear on the 2024 ballot in November as currently worded.

In two weeks, voters decide which party will control the Senate and House, as well as choosing 36 governors and 6,049 state legislators.In some places voters will also be making transportation policy directly through ballot initiatives and referenda.A common factor in three states, Texas, Maryland and Wisconsin, is the attempt to ensure that some tax revenues are used only for transportation and aren’t diverted to other purposes.Texas voters will decide the fate of Proposition 1, a constitutional amendment that would earmark revenue from the state’s oil and gas severance tax to the state highway fund. (You can see a TV...

Battling anger and indifference on the part of California voters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger implored them Sunday not to make the state "the poster child for dysfunction" by defeating a host of measures on Tuesday's ballot that seek to restructure the state's bleak finances. The governor's visits to three African American churches in Los Angeles came as proponents and opponents of the ballot measures marshaled the last of the millions of dollars they have collected for the special election. Schwarzenegger said Sunday he had been told that about 25% of voters are expected to show up, ... Schwarzenegger, accompanied by Assembly...

The dozen measures on California's Nov. 4 general election ballot would cost taxpayers – and their children and grandchildren – $78.9 billion over the next 30 years, a Bee analysis has found. That includes $33.2 billion for four bond proposals, $30 billion for drug rehabilitation programs and another $15.5 billion to ensure a minimum amount of state funds for local jails and other law enforcement programs. On the plus side, if the drug rehab program worked, it could save taxpayers $32.5 billion and reduce the overall ballot's potential cost to $44.4 billion. But that's still a daunting price tag in...

Since Arizona’s local law enforcement began enforcing illegal immigration laws and an employer sanctions law went into effect, illegal immigrants have been fleeing the state in large numbers. The effects have been far-ranging. Commuters are reporting fewer vehicles on the freeways, shortening their rush-hour commutes. What had become a serious transportation problem in Arizona is losing its urgency. English Learner Language (ELL) students started dropping out of school. This helped end a confrontation between the state legislature and a liberal federal judge who had ordered the state to spend more money on ELL classes. Fewer illegal immigrants are using hospital...

Thirteen propositions that have qualified for the Nov. 7 ballot ask voters to authorize billions of dollars in bond issues and new taxes, creating political land mines for the candidates for governor, especially Democrat Phil Angelides. The cumulative weight of the measures could make it more difficult for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sell his ambitious package of public-works bonds. In the June primary election, voters decisively rejected a seemingly routine library bond issue whose price tag was a tiny fraction of what the Republican governor is promoting. The proposed tax increases on the November ballot complicate life for Angelides, the...

LA TIMES set to report that the Redistricting Initiative Backed by the Gov will be disqualified from appearing on the ballot because of discrepancies between what people signed for petitions and what was submitted to Sec of State . . . Leaving Redistricting in the hands of a "Compromise" with the Dems . . . http://politicalvanguard.com/

With Election Day less than seven weeks away, ballots are finally shaping up around the country. The ballot measures database is nearly complete-data is lacking or incomplete from just three states (Maine, Texas and Vermont). Here are the totals so far: 2004 Ballot Measures Measure Type Number Citizen Initiative 59Legislative Referendum 101Popular Referendum 2Other 1TOTAL 163

<p>He was invited to Silicon Valley to hear the concerns of local business leaders. But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday wound up winning the support of those executives for the two ballot measures he is touting as the cure for the state's financial woes.</p>