Referendum

In states such as California, where Democrats control the legislature and most elected posts, Democratic leaders often rail against the use of direct democracy and work to prevent measures. Republicans paint themselves as supporters of initiatives and the people.

In Utah, however, the political dynamic is different -- and the parties have different positions. After seeing a school voucher bill and other legislation reversed by referendum, GOP legislative leaders are trying to restrict use of the referendum. And the state Democratic party has made the protection of direct democracy a top priority. The Desert News has more.

Referenda are not conducted only by governments. Even professional associations hold them. And the American Psychological Association is holding its very first, and on an important public topic: whether psychologists may participate ethically in interrogations at Guantanamo. Members are voting now. An NPR story on this is here.

Folks in Will County, Illinois, have been debating whether to hold a referendum on the coroner. The position is currently elected, but the family in a recently botched autopsy has pushed for making it an appointed post. At this point, it appears no referendum will make the ballot.

The Secretary of State of Oregon was no fan of an effort to qualify a referendum to reverse the state's domestic partnership law. And the number of valid signatures barely met the requirement. So he went through the signatures and disqualified some 200 signatures that were determined not to match the voter signatures on registration card.

Now the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Secretary of State's actions were lawful. It's a tough call. While signature fraud remains a threat in the petition circulation game, it's a good bet that many or even most of the disqualified signatures were valid. How's that? People's signatures often change over the years. And for that reason, here's some free advice. If you haven't changed your voter registration in the past 5 years, it's a good idea to go in and update it, with a fresh signature. I've observed the counting of absentee ballots in California, and election officials are often checking against voter registration signatures from 30 or 40 years ago. If signatures don't match, the votes don't get counted.

Evo Morales triumphs in a referendum he sought on whether he should remain in office. The victory should give him some political momentum in his battle with leaders of wealthy provinces who have been resisting his economic plans.

But provincial governors who oppose Morales also survived the plebiscite. And some of these provinces appear to have backed Morales' removal. (He won overwhelmingly in poorer parts of the country). So Bolivia remains divided.

USC's Initiative & Referendum Institute has released their excellent and thorough review of ballot measures across the country. The headline is the number of measures involving social issues. The file is a PDF attachment to this post.

MANCHESTER CONGESTED: Manchester, England, is preparing to hold a referendum on a plan to establish a congestion pricing system for traffic in the city. Such plans, which charge motorists on a sliding scale based on the traffic conditions and time of day, have gained favor in Europe and are being talked about in the U.S., most notably in New York City.

MINDANAO REFERENDUM: Muslim rebels and the Philippine government have agreed to hold a referendum in Mindanao to allow citizens there to determine whether they want to become part of the county's existing Muslim autonomous region, according to news reports.

ECUADOR CONSTITUTION: The referendum on a new constitution for Ecuador is set for Sept. 28. The document has provisions that likely will produce more votes in the tiny South American country. Under the new constitution, the president would be able to ask voters to dissolve Congress, and the Congress would be able to ask voters to kick out the president.

The Irish voted down the European Union's Lisbon Treaty last month, 53-47. While European officials have called for another vote, a new poll suggests only 24 percent of Irish voters want such a second ballot. And if there were a second ballot, support for the treaty would reach only 38 percent of the voter.

Houston County in the great state of Georgia is permitting its citizens to vote on whether to pay for a weather warning system.

In what is being portrayed as evidence of surging Islamophobia in the home of direct democracy, Swiss conservatives have qualified a ballot initiative that would add a ban on minarets to the country's constitution. Switzerland, a country of 7 million people, has more than 300,000 Muslims but only three minarets.