The Tuesday Count: Post-election highlights

November 11, 2014

Edited by Tyler King

Voters weighed in on some of the nation's most contentious topics during the November 4, 2014, elections. Decisions made at the ballot box established important precedents and set the tone for future elections, based on which measures were approved and defeated. Marijuana is one example of a topic that has been appearing on ballots and building momentum throughout the past several election cycles and will likely continue to do so throughout 2015, 2016 and beyond.

Florida's marijuana advocates plotting second round

Though two recreational marijuana measures - Ballot Measure 2 in Alaska and Measure 91 in Oregon - were approved by voters on November 4, a medical marijuana measure in Florida, Amendment 2, fell short of the 60 percent supermajority required for passage.

"This is just the first battle and I plan to win the war," said John Morgan, the central proponent of and largest donor to the narrowly defeated measure. Morgan is eyeing a 2016 rematch against marijuana opponents.

Following Amendment 2's defeat on November 4, Morgan started plotting a rerun for 2016. He viewed the amendment's failure as insignificant, saying round one was like walking "through a forest that we'd never been through before." He continued, "But on the walk through the forest, we've tied ribbons around trees. We have markings now. When we walk through this forest again, we won't be in the dark. We'll be walking by familiar places."

Morgan doesn't want to wait very long before starting the walk through the forest again. He's aiming to collect enough signatures to get an initiative or two on the 2016 ballot by March 2015. His intent, however, isn't necessarily voter approval. Rather, he's hoping to threaten the state's Republican trifecta to pass additional medical marijuana legalization. If the Florida Legislature and Gov. Scott (R) don't fall into Morgan's trap, then he's confident that a 2016 vote would bear a different outcome. Amendment 2 garnered almost 58 percent of the vote in 2014, two percentage points shy of Florida's 60 percent requirement. After all, 2016 is a presidential election and, according to Morgan, "The more turnout there is in the state of Florida, the better chance this has. And turnout in a presidential election will be gigantic." Morgan is even considering placing two marijuana initiatives on the ballot for 2016, one for medical legalization and another for recreational legalization. He said, "I may even have two amendments. I may have the medical marijuana amendment and a full legalization amendment, see what they do with that. If I'm collecting signatures, I just have people sign one for each. I can collect them both at the same price."

Yet, not all marijuana legalization advocates are excited about Morgan's self-anointed leadership. Referring to Morgan, Tom Angell of Marijuana Majority stated, "Next time medical marijuana is on the ballot, organizers should put patients and medical professionals at the forefront of the campaign rather than relying on a well-meaning but much less sympathetic political donor as the chief spokesperson."

Local spotlight

Hundreds of important local issues decided at the ballot box on November 4, 2014, in California:

Every year local ballot measures play a profound role in the lives of every California resident. From deciding on new taxes and hundreds of millions of dollars in general obligation bonds to minimum wage, fracking, development and term limits, local California voters consistently enjoy the power to significantly effect their own lives via the local ballot. Last week, voters weighed in on at least 378 local measures. They approved 274 and rejected 104.

Voters in Oakland and San Francisco approved hikes in those cities' minimum wages, while voters in a small, northern city called Eureka rejected a proposed $12 per hour minimum wage initiative.

Voters in Humboldt County approved a prohibition on the cultivation of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, by voting "yes" on Measure P.

The Santa Barbara County electorate rejected a high-profile initiative to prohibit fracking, while, in San Benito County and Mendocino County, voters approved similar bans.

Voters also decided 12 local measures concerning medical marijuana and marijuana cultivation, approving six and defeating six.

In less glamorous but extremely important races, voters decided:

• 52 local sales taxes, approving 36 and defeating 16
• 36 parcel taxes, approving 23 and defeating 13
• 109 school bond measures, approving 88 and defeating 21
• many other public finance, tax, elections and government-related measures

Other measures in the news

• Michigan Same-Sex Marriage Amendment (2016): Following an unfavorable Sixth Circuit ruling, same-sex marriage activists want to take the issue to the ballot.
• Mississippi "Confederate Heritage" Amendment (2016): A group aims to establish Christianity as the official state religion, English as the official state language and April as "Confederate Heritage Month," among other things.
• California Proposition 60, Condoms in Pornographic Films (2016): The AIDS Healthcare Foundation and activists launch a 2016 initiative.

See also

2014 ballot measures

Tuesday Count • 2014 Scorecard

• Ballotpedia's Tuesday Count for 2014
• 2014 ballot measures
• Local ballot measure elections in 2014