Alaskans for Efficient Government v. State
Alaskans for Efficient Government, Inc. v. State is a February 23, 2007, decision of the Alaska Supreme Court. The ruling concerned whether it is acceptable for the state's election authorities--in Alaska, the lieutenant governor's office--to preemptively decline to place an initiative on the ballot if the initiative runs counter to constitutional provisions governing the initiative process.
This falls into the area of ballot access law known as a pre-election challenge. In the case at hand, the Alaska Supreme Court supported the previous decision of the Lieutenant Governor of Alaska to decline to place the initiative on the ballot.
The proposed initiative, had it been placed on the ballot and passed, would have required that the Alaska state legislature needed a supermajority vote to pass tax-related bills.
The court ruled that since Article II, Section 14 of the Alaska Constitution requires bills to be enacted by a majority vote, and since Article XI, Section 1 of the Alaska Constitution does not allow an initiative to amend a constitutional requirement--in this case, the requirement that bills be enacted by a majority vote (not a supermajority vote)--it was proper for the lieutenant governor to decline to place the initiative on the ballot.
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