One day soon you'll be leaving the grocery store, or perhaps going out to grab a cup of coffee, and a complete stranger will ask you to help change the world. Or at least the world as we know it in Montana.
This person, who will most likely be carrying a pen and a clipboard, will ask for your signature to help put a new initiative on the November 2008 ballot.
The popularity of the initiative process is evident in the number of citizen-led measures that make their way onto the ballot each election year. Unfortunately, the very things that make these initiatives such powerful legislative tools also make them targets for abuse.
Just prior to the November 2006 elections, for example, three ballot measures had to be thrown out because some signature-gatherers were found to have used fraudulent methods. Many of these signature-gatherers did not live in Montana, and many of them were paid according to the number of signatures they collected. As a result, some of them resorted to aggressive - and illegal - tactics.
Opponents of the three measures filed lawsuits alleging widespread voter fraud, and the courts found cause to agree. But by the time justices issued their final decision, it was too late for the measures in question to be pulled from the ballot, so any votes cast for or against them simply weren't counted.
The ensuing uproar over all this led the 2007 Legislature to enact a number of reforms aimed at cleaning up the initiative process, such as a requirement that all signature gatherers be Montana residents and a ban on payment for signature-gathering services. They also decided to allow initiative proponents to write their own ballot descriptions - subject, of course, to review by the state attorney general.
These are all welcome changes. Requiring signature gatherers to demonstrate state residency ensures that the people who will be pushing these initiatives have a stake in the outcome. Banning payment removes any monetary incentive to skirt the rules. And allowing the people who support the initiative to explain it will promote voter comprehension - an especially important change, because these initiatives often propose substantial constitutional changes that require detailed understanding.
For instance, one proposed initiative that could land on the next ballot would limit interest rates on short-term loans commonly called “payday” loans to 36 percent. Another initiative would limit residential property tax increases to 1.5 percent a year. Another would define a person as a human being “at all stages of human development or life, including the state of fertilization,” and yet another would expand a state health insurance program to cover up to 30,000 additional children.
And there could be more.
Already, various groups are lining up to support or oppose these initiatives. In the coming months, they will be offering a lot of information to voters, hoping to earn your support.
We suggest you consider their information carefully. Talk to them. Ask questions.
Just don't sign anything until you're absolutely sure you understand what you're supporting.
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