Citizen initiatives thrust Ballotpedia's Tuesday Count to 161
July 20, 2010
By Bailey Ludlam
Ballot activity is on the rise and this week is no exception. Ballotpedia's Tuesday Count is reporting a total of 161 certified measures in 36 states for 2010 elections. Expect the count to continue rising as certification in four states and petition drive deadlines in three states remain pending.
Initiatives were approved in Washington, Oregon and Montana. In Washington, the secretary of state's office has been diligently reviewing filed petitions for six initiatives. Last week Secretary of State Sam Reed certified I-100 and I-1082. This week, the citizen initiatives were joined by Initiative 1098, known as the "Establish a State Income Tax Initiative," and Initiative 1053, another tax related measure. Despite an investigation of fraudulent signatures, submitted for I-1098, the initiative had more than sufficient signatures to qualify for the November 2, 2010 general election ballot.
In Oregon, the secretary of state's office is also working through thousands of signatures for six filed initiatives. Thus far, two initiatives have been certified for the statewide ballot. Unlikes Washington's certified tax-related initiatives this week, Oregon's relate to law enforcement and marijuana. Initiative 13, also known as the "minimum criminal sentence increase initiative," proposes requiring an increased minimum sentence for some sex crimes and repeat DUIs. Initiative 28, on the other hand, would allow the establishment of privately owned, nonprofit dispensaries. All dispensaries and growers, however, would be subject to state regulations.
Like Oregon, Montana officials certified initiatives regarding a wide range of topics. Specifically, three initiatives were certified this week. The Montana Secretary of State had until August 19, 2010 to certify initiatives for the ballot, but stated that three measures had enough signatures to make the ballot well before that date. This bumps the number of measures scheduled to appear on the statewide ballot to four.
The three measures that were certified in Montana include: the Hunter Access Funding initiative, the New Property Tax Elimination amendment, and the Loan Interest Rate Limit initiative.
Elsewhere, legislatively referred measures saw activity in South Carolina and Oklahoma. South Carolina lawmakers referred a measure that proposed authorizing that the Capital Reserve Fund be used to replenish the General Reserve Fund at the "applicable percentage." In Oklahoma, State Question 753 was removed from the ballot.
Local elections:
Upcoming petition drive deadlines:
- August 2: Colorado (The exact date, however, remains unclear. Read more here.)[1]
- August 4: North Dakota
- 90 days after circulation begins or September 2010: Oklahoma
See also
| 2010 ballot measures |
| Tuesday Count • 2010 Scorecard |
| Analysis • Issues on ballot |
- Ballotpedia's Tuesday Count for 2010
- Ballot initiatives filed for the 2010 ballot
- 2010 ballot measures
- Ballot measure petition deadlines and requirements, 2010
- Local ballot measure elections in 2010
Footnotes
- ↑ A statute passed in 2009 says the deadline is July 12, but some sources say that this statute conflicts with the Colorado Constitution and that the deadline is actually therefore August 2. At least one initiative sponsor has received a letter from the Colorado Secretary of State putting the deadline on August 2.
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