November 7, 2010 Saying NO to Ballot Initiatives
One of the best things that happened in the 2010 election cycle in Colorado was the defeat of every single ballot initiative. The “Ugly 3″ went down to crushing defeats, as did the extreme Amendment 62. The “bail bond bailout” measure Prop 102 was also soundly rejected, and 53% of voters turned down Amendment 63. Not a good idea in the bunch, and all failed to pass.
I hope this cycle is not an aberration and that voters in Colorado have learned to cast a cynical eye on ballot initiatives. Although the initiative process gives power to the people and allows them to bypass the normal legislative process of elected representatives deciding policy, it is quite susceptible to abuse by those with deep pockets or hidden motives. There’s a reason these bad ideas didn’t go through the normal legislative process where their flaws could be examined and debated and the wording and content of the measures could be tempered or perfected by the give and take of amendments and fine-tuning that legislators are accustomed to making. These bad ideas couldn’t have survived that process, or wouldn’t emerge from that process as deceptive or extreme as their proponents intended.
I’m a big proponent of initiative reform, and I’m hopeful that the stinkers before voters in the 2010 cycle will make it easier to move our state toward a more thoughtful and measured initiative process. Perhaps we’ll see something on the ballot in 2012 to improve the process and restore voter confidence. I’ve written blog posts on this topic in the past and will continue to work on this issue in the future.
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