Submitted by: Mike Spindell, Guest Blogger
I’m a legal resident of Florida and this week I took advantage of early voting. While I’ve been a political activist for most of my life and usually have a good idea of the issues involved in any particular election, this vote brought home to me that I wasn’t as smart and informed in this election as I supposed. This thought occurred to me the night before I voted, when I carefully looked over the sample ballot sent to me by my County Board of Elections. The sample ballot had six pages and the opportunity to vote twenty six separate times. The first seven of the twenty-six votes, were “no brainers” since it started with the Presidency and ended with County Commissioner. I was familiar with each of these elective offices and the issues entailed in each particular race, but that’s where my familiarity with the issues involved in the next nineteen votes ended. The next possible votes were on whether each of three particular State Supreme Court Judges should be allowed to continue their terms? Not knowing these Judges and/or their judicial views how was I to make such a decision? The next vote was also on whether a particular Justice of the Court of Appeals should be retained in office. The final electoral decision was a vote between one of two people for a four year term to the County Soil and Water commission. This was not a party affiliated position, so other than their names, I had no idea who to vote for, or what their particular conservation philosophy entailed.
Needless to say, I went on the web and found out what was going on in the Judges recall. This is the story and its’ Washington Post link: A Koch Brothers-backed campaign is seeking to vote out three Florida Supreme Court justices.
“A loosely organized Internet campaign against the court two years ago has been fortified by the conservative group Americans for Prosperity, founded by billionaire activists Charles and David Koch. And then came the surprise announcement that the Republican Party of Florida had decided to oppose all three justices, an unprecedented move in the nonpartisan vote.
Party leaders said that “collective evidence of judicial activism” showed the jurists to be liberals who are out of touch with the public. Opponents point to the court’s death penalty decisions and a ruling that kept an “Obamacare” referendum off the 2010 ballot. But the justices’ supporters say an effort is underway to pack the court with new appointees and deliver Republicans the only branch of state government they don’t control.”
While it is true that I had no clue that such a Campaign was going on, in my defense I was out of State for the entire summer and not paying attention to local affairs. This guest blog, however, is not about the Koch’s judicial ploy, but about what followed it on the Florida Ballot. This was the vote on eleven Florida Constitutional Amendments and why I believe that the nationwide movement for voter ballot initiatives is an idea to support democracy, which in practice is anti-democratic in nature.
The texts of these amendments and what are the motives behind them would be far too long to detail in this guest blog. The League of Women Voters summarizes each of these amendments and provides their reasons for why they should be defeated: http://www.thefloridavoter.org/resources/issues/2012-constitutional-amendments . Also see here: http://thefloridavoter.org/files/download/508 To give you the full flavor of the deception though, I will give you the text on the ballot of Amendment Number 8, read carefully and you will see the deception in it:
“Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution providing that no individual or entity may be denied, on the basis of religious identity or belief, governmental benefits, funding, or other support, except as required by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, and deleting the prohibition against using revenues from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution.”
The text you see above was actually revised due to a court order that the former text was way to deceptive and didn’t specify that the purpose of this amendment was to allow state funding of private religious schools and institutions. A discussion of the court background of this amendment and the supporters who pushed this ballot initiative can be found here: http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Florida_Religious_Freedom,_Amendment_8_(2012)#Text_of_measure
The ballot initiative movement has a long history in the United States. The first such was enacted in South Dakota in 1872. Currently 22 States allow for both Ballot Initiatives and Popular Referendums, to be placed on their ballots, this includes California which has had an infamous history with this methodology. There are currently 18 States that allow for constitutional Amendments Two other States, Kentucky and New Mexico allow only Popular Referendums on their ballot. Finally another two States Florida and Mississippi only allow for Constitutional Amendments. This admixture can be confusing to explain so below you can see a chart of which States, allow what initiatives and when they were adopted: http://www.iandrinstitute.org/statewide_i%26r.htm .
This is a complex issue, that doesn’t always lend itself to an easy sorting out of which political philosophies are either pro or con. One of the sources on the favorable side is The Initiative and Referendum Institute at the University of Southern California (IRI) which is a major clearing house for these measures: http://www.iandrinstitute.org/ This site offers a wealth of information on this topic and provides much argument and background. Although I’m personally very much against the process of ballot initiatives and popular constitutional amendments through public voting, I must concede that many of its supporters are people of good will, who deeply believe in the democratic process. So in this piece I will try to give you the tools to make up your own mind by presenting the cogent arguments of those for and against the process. First though I want to clearly state why I, who deeply believe I the urgency for democracy, view the voter initiative process as being in practice anti-democratic and ultimately destructive to democracy.
Growing up in the 50’s the term “States Rights” meant one thing alone. “States Rights” stood for the enforcement of “Jim Crow” and the cruel repression of Black Americans. As I grew and as I was educated, I began to develop my own theories about the fact that the major oppression of the people in the U.S. derived from State and Local governments, rather than from the Federal Government as those who clamored for “States Right” claimed. This is of course not to say that the Federal Government is pristine. The Federal Government has had its own share of atrocious behavior and tyranny. Yet I believe that the most tyranny in our country’s history has been perpetrated by State Governments and local municipalities. My belief is rooted in the idea that the forces of wealth and tyranny can much more easily manipulate on the local, rather than the national level. Even if a group such as the Klu Klux Klan might only be supported by a minority in a particular State, their radical and violent agenda is such that they can intimidate the majority on a local level through fear. Then too, a polluting company for instance, that provides so many local jobs, can influence and defeat efforts to stop their devastation. A example of this is the influence of the Coal Industry in a State like West Virginia.
Being subject to the influence of well funded interests can also lead to results that severely infringe the U.S. Constitutional Rights of classes of people on a State level. The infamous Proposition 8 in California is a case study of what can happen when a well-funded group of people who oppose the rights of Homosexuals can initiate and pass a State Constitutional Amendment banning their marriages, which to me is in violation of the of the “Equal Protection Clause” of the U.S. Constitution. California’s Supreme Court ruled that in their decision to declare the amendment unconstitutional, but currently an appeal is pending in the U.S. Supreme Court. A history of that State Amendment and the forces supporting it can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8#Ruling
While I believe that most of the supporters of the “Local Initiative” movement have believed they were acting in the cause of spreading democracy, I think they miss the practical reality of how these local initiatives are used against the best interests of democracy. The argument comes down to two issues I think, though I am willing to be corrected.
The first issue is that the voting process, in this age of information and media saturation, can be rigged by special interests and complex procedures explained disingenuously, to put through essentially anti-democratic measures.
The second and more important issue is that the rights of a minority in a democracy should not be abridged by popular will. If these rights can be abridged then the end result will be tyranny.
That’s my take on Popular Initiatives. Below are two links that represents two cogent arguments on this issue:
Pro-direct democracy
http://www.iandrinstitute.org/7-Matsusaka.pdf
Anti direct democracy
http://groups.law.gwu.edu/lr/ArticlePDF/80-2-Stearns.pdf
Please read them and let us know where you stand.
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger.
By both parties I mean Republican and Democrat.
bill mcwilliams,
The LWV ran all the debates till a couple decades ago for the very reasons you mention.. Everybody was included and the questions were substantial and to the point. There were rules and strict formats to be followed. The two major parties wanted a show, not a debate, and made demands that the League would not accept. That put an end to educating the voter.
Both parties were to blame.
Doesn’t seem like it would be hard to figure which side of a ballot initiative is the more progressive side..especially if you use heuristics such as where the Koch folks and tea sippers stand. League of Women Voters, I’m not so sure. Do they support having robust debates for P and VP? Would they make a case for why Jill Stein and Gary Johnson should have been at the
Obama/Romney Really Big Shows?
nick spin:
you got that right, although I think he got thrown out after the sound bite and the photo-op.
The Koch’s are everywhere. They were even in the movie Campaign with Will Ferrell. But take heart they went with the Dem when the Repub wouldnt play ball with them.
I have been engaged in this discussion for decades. As many of you know I am a huge supporter of the The League of Women Voters and urge everyone to visit your state’s site for explanation and discussion and often the League’s recommendation as to State issues on your ballot. Initiative Petitions are not a bad thing and it takes very little time to visit a League site and read the break down of pros and cons in order to arrive at a responsible decision when casting one’s ballot. The League only makes recommendations after months of study and analyzing. They do not make a recommendation without a “Study”.
At the following 2 sites you will see the recommendation the League made for the Initiative Proposed named Issue 2 and their response to the OSBA who came out as opposed to the Issue without proper due diligence.
http://www.lwvohio.org/assets/attachments/file/Three%20Generations%20LWVO%20Presidents%20Urge%20Yes%20on%202(final)web.pdf
The League is recommending passage of Issue 2 The Proposed Constitutional Amendment to Create a State Funded Commission to Draw Legislative and Congressional Initiatives (Proposed by Initiative Petition)
Following is the open letter sent to the Ohio State Bar Association regarding their opposition to Issue 2.
http://www.lwvohio.org/assets/attachments/file/Open%20Letter%20to%20Bar%20Associations%20re%20Issue%202.pdf
Now, if you read the info from the above 2 links then you will know that the League proposed the Initiative and the Bar came out against it without proper research.
In this case, and many others too numerous to mention, the Initiative Process is vital to a healthy democracy. Educated voters and those willing to take the time to educate themselves thus fulfilling their duty and obligations to this “Grand Experiment” know that.
Nick, I have lived in D dominated districts and R dominated districts at different times in my life (oddly I have never lived in a wide open place. The problem is in those cases that really lousy candidates get elected simply because they are in the ‘right’ party. Without the demands of an actual opponent the parties often fail to police themselves.
You are right, this is a really bad situation. Bad for the parties and worse for the voters.
In Minnesota the Secretary of State’s office has a service on their web site. You enter your address and they provide an exact sample ballot for your precinct. Its been a real gift as I have never bee surprised by a ballot nor at a loss for who was running. Interestingly enough we actually have teabaggers running for soil and water commission! Fortunately the state GOP was kind enough to point that out in their endorsement for them.
There are a couple of bad actors (not necessarily baggers or even conservatives just really unqualified) candidates for Judgeship’s this year and google helped me learn about all the candidates.
There is no good reason your state couldn’t do the same thing, the SoS has to have all the ballots so providing copies on line BEFORE the election is something everyone should demand.
It would be great if we could feel comfortable that citizens were appropriately informed about issues. Until schools have good civics courses and a course in critical thinking and analysis of issues, the media will have to take on the burden of making sure all issues are covered, including their applications and implications. “Citizen exams”? I don’t think so. Blacks have been their before. When I hear “civics exams” I think of a question asked on a game show: Is black the absence or presence of all color?” The contestant asked for claification, “Is the question talking about pain oror light because they have opposite answers?” The contestant was given no further info, guessed, and guessed wrong.
nick spinelli
1, November 4, 2012 at 12:06 pm
Chris Christie getting more love here! He’ll be kicked out of bed on Wednesday and you’ll forget you had a fling in a few weeks.
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No, I don’t agree. He is a tad rough round the edges but he demonstrates the balls to both understand the need for AND to implement the ever necessary putting of political partisanship aside to accomplish what the whole of the political sphere is purposed about; governance and protection of ALL the people who are part of this Country….and even those that aren’t when possible….and especially those whose power is given by process to those who are then in a position to lead…and further that promised quality of life….and it isn’t a done deal for Christie either…he will have to show more than once this ability AND the ability to kick the Murdochs to the curb….
Great job Mike. Florida is at the forefront of voter ID nonsense, and as you pointed out, one of the worst in flooding the ballot with confusing and hyperbolic measures. It is true that too much say at the ballot box deprives the issues at hand a full and complete debate and understanding of their importance or lack thereof.
If the neoCons would just leave the good things alone rather than trying to go backwards as far as possible, the voting part of political life would be less convoluted.
ss What GeneH said, now I was forced to agree, but this is his Jekyll side. Smile. Good work, GeneH. And MikeS too.
Until we have “citizen exams” to be allowed to vote, then I am against such “citizen initiatives”.
A minor point: The amendment given in extenso does permit church-run hospitals to refuse to provide services that their morals don’t permit, while blocking the feds from excluding them from fed moneys, I believe, for that reason. A matter for the courts? No matter.
When can we vote out these corporative shills we have who approve letting corps be persons? If they can in Florida, then why not these bought judges too.
To finish in a minor key, I wonder if this is not ample proof of the idea that corporate and AynRanders hold dearest? That the people are not competent to govern or to decide on important issues.
It is an viewpoint which saturates our government too. From the Pentagon which Ellsberg revealed to the steerers of America as H W Bush and the Kochs, to throughout the local/state governments.
Who knows what cow will be gored by the election of this sheriff? What is he making in his prison system? Or what public lands will be sold to which developer for the right price by this mayor?
The citizens don’t know, as MikeS demonstrates, and can not know either.
Chris Christie getting more love here! He’ll be kicked out of bed on Wednesday and you’ll forget you had a fling in a few weeks.
My reality is different. Living in Dane County, Wi. where the DemocratIC party rules, every year I routinely have 5-8 offices where there is only one choice. Our only other option is to write-in. It’s been that way since I moved here in 1983. I previously lived in Chicago where the dynamic was very similar. I’ll take too many choices over none any day.
While it is true that I had no clue that such a Campaign was going on, in my defense I was out of State for the entire summer and not paying attention to local affairs.~Mike S.
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I was here all summer and the information available was scarce or overtly-politicized. I too had read the League of Womens Voters take on the amendments and their stance that all the issues had no real standing to be amendments but were actually perverting the process to be enacted or were conflict soup ingredients for staging a bigger fight later….(but I had to dig for this and had friends who also keep up….)’
And of course, in true Floridian fashion, our illustrious Gov. has circumvented the problem of ease of people’s practicing their civil rights and civic duty and denied extending early voting….guaranteeing hardship to those most probable Democrats who are working during daylight hours…or 3-4 jobs just to survive. I understand the waits were longer than 6 hours for some….and THAT is called partisan poo and I’d rather a Chris Christie than another mean term of Rick ‘Voldemort’ Scott…. HOO-YA!!!!!!
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-34222_162-57544782/active-duty-service-members-disenfranchised-by-fla-voter-purge/
“While I believe that most of the supporters of the “Local Initiative” movement have believed they were acting in the cause of spreading democracy, I think they miss the practical reality of how these local initiatives are used against the best interests of democracy. The argument comes down to two issues I think, though I am willing to be corrected.”
There is a lot of “forest for the trees” that go on in modern politics and I attribute much of it to the woefully inadequate civics education most Americans have. It makes them more susceptible to divisive politics and the idea that we have a national government instead of a Federal government that has to serve all the people’s best interests.
“The first issue is that the voting process, in this age of information and media saturation, can be rigged by special interests and complex procedures explained disingenuously, to put through essentially anti-democratic measures.”
Quite true. When you cannot get someone to believe your big lie by indoctrination techniques of propaganda, obfuscation and confusion are the next best fall back tactic. This is ability to mass communicate is a two-edged sword. It can be used to educate, but just so as you note it can be used as a weapon against proper understanding and even democracy itself.
“The second and more important issue is that the rights of a minority in a democracy should not be abridged by popular will. If these rights can be abridged then the end result will be tyranny.”
Again, this is a reflection of the general civic ignorance most Americans possess. It is also coupled with the societal trend of selfishness and myopic narcissism that is encouraged in our culture by many vectors, from laissez-faire capitalism to prosperity theology to the sports entitlement culture to the film, television and music industry. Democracy is a team sport in the best sense of the term. For it to work does not mean that everyone gets exactly what they want, but if done cooperatively and most of all intelligently, we all get what is in the best interests of all of society. The “But I’m Special!” culture that flourishes in this country (and is exemplified by those who embrace the neoconservative/Libertarian ideals based in Rand’s ridiculous Objectivism) is antithetical to democracy in the long run.
Great article, Mike. A good illustration of the consequences of letting amoral corporations – and by their very nature as a legal fiction they are amoral and serve the interests of the amoral and sociopaths like the Kochs – participate unfettered in the political arena. Our civil rights will be taken from us by our own hand if the corporate world has their way.
The time to act to save democracy is now.
Mike, you have pointed out a very important fact. Democracy is a system that can be perverted. In the US it is being perverted by corporate interests and billionaires who don’t like the idea that “little” people get to vote. Recall And petitioning look great until you realize that they are used more by corporate interests and billionaires to derail actions taken by legislatures and judges that are protective of people’s rights, human people that is.
With all its defect democracy is still the best system but it has to be protected from perversion by corporate interests and billionaires
By limiting the involvement of big money and “legal fictions” in the system.
Thanks, Mike for this great article. As always you have highlighted a fact that often goes unseen and undiscussed.
All ten amendments on the Florida ballot are tea bagger wet dreams. Vote NO on all of them. Can’t believe that you don’t keep up with the FL Supreme court. Vote to retain them….they are the only thing keeping the state from being run by the most corrupt tea bagging fools this side of Timbuktu. The ungodly long ballots need to be put out to pasture. I wish we had a federal law that said only presidential candidates and candidates for the US Senate and the US house could be on a ballot during the presidential election year. We should have separate elections to decide other issues. I know a lot of people who only voted for president and left the rest of the ballot empty. I can’t say that I blame them considering the mess on our ballots.
Jes Louise, that is a lot of information. We got a different problem in North Carolina. Candidates here do not post the name of their Party on their yardsigns or websites. So I emailed this guy running for the NC House. He is a preacher named Cayton. I asked him if he supported the Democratic Ticket and if, when our group meets today after church, we should vote a straight Democratic Ticket with the guy at the top included. Well, he wont email me back. So, the group today will decide to only vote for those on the ballot whom we know and not vote for someone just because they are a Democrat or Republican. So, I am not going to vote for Cayton because he wont say he is voting for Obama.