Greenlining's Blog

Special Election Was A Referendum On Referendums

“We are fed up!” That’s the message to take away from the special election called by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in his failed attempt to remake state government. California voters rejected every initiative on the ballot. This fact alone portends that something beyond voter resentment of Schwarzenegger’s agenda was at work. Perhaps, the rejection of every initiative on the ballot says more about voter resentment of what the initiative process has become – an elite province of well-financed special interests, wealthy individuals and slick political consultants engaged in an orgy of fundraising to pass or defeat statutes that should be deliberated in the legislature. While some will say the voters rejection of these initiatives were more a reflection on the Governor’s popularity and the respective initiative campaigns, there’s no arguing that California voters are becoming increasingly annoyed with the initiative process, and believe that the next attempt at reform should start with the initiative process itself.

The $200 million spent on the special election will certainly be surpassed if nothing is done soon to curb the appetite of the ballot initiative industrial complex. Greenlining has offered several ideas to stem the proliferation of ballot initiatives in California; including, lowering the number of qualifying signatures for proponents who use volunteer signature gatherers, requiring a voter quorum to pass an initiative, and potentially, contribution limits. The experiment of direct democracy has blown up in the faces of those who can least afford to engage in the initiative process, namely poor and minority Californians. Only those with a minimum of $1 million are able to qualify an initiative for the ballot. If advocates for the poor could afford access to the initiative process, we might see more ballot initiatives focusing on issues that positively affect people’s lives.

The initiative process is wholly unfavorable to more than 21 million minorities because they lack the wealth and income to effectively compete in the initiative arena. Furthermore, the initiative process still relies on a scant majority of white voters whose motivations and values supersede those of communities of color in state-wide ballot initiative campaigns. This explains the propensity of initiatives that attack the interests of minorities and immigrants, rather than wealthy whites. Where is the ballot initiative repealing Proposition 13 benefits for corporations? Why isn’t there a ballot initiative to address the miniscule amount of decent housing for working families?

If we continue to use the unequal and unfavorable initiative process, we might as well outsource the legislature to India. We elect Governors, Assemblypersons and Senators to govern, not pass the buck to the voters. California’s dual system of representative and direct democracy is in need of refinement. The voters have sent a clear message that they are ready to consider refinements, or else “no” votes will become the new trend in California.

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