Voters All Across the Nation Just Said No

Voters were in the mood to say no on Election Day--no to rolling back taxes in Washington state, no to gay rights in three cities and no to career politicians in Maine and New York City.

They even said no to a potbellied pig in Piqua, Ohio.

In Tuesday’s raft of ballot questions covering issues from public policy to the public purse, voters in Washington state said no to rolling back a $1-billion tax package. It is keeping the state budget in balance and paying for health care reform, while tying tax growth to average income in the state.

“We were standing at the end of the gangplank and now we get to back up,” said Nita Rinehart, a state Senate budget committee member. Approval of the rollback would have forced the Legislature to rewrite the budget in a hurry.

A similar, milder measure to link tax growth to increases in population and inflation was leading by 15,000 votes Wednesday. The results may not be confirmed until all absentee ballots are counted in a week, officials said.

City ordinances giving gays anti-bias protections were repealed by voters in Cincinnati and Lewiston, Me. In Portsmouth, N.H., voters said no to gay rights in a non-binding referendum.

“The whole issue wasn’t about discrimination; it was about morality,” said the Rev. K. Z. Smith, a Baptist preacher and a leader of the repeal movement in Cincinnati.

Meanwhile, voters slapped eight-year term limits on state officeholders in Maine and on top elected officials in New York City, including the mayor and 51-member City Council.

“Eight years is enough,” said cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder, who financed the New York City measure. He said of the voters: “They’re not happy. They want change.”

Voters had their say on several other issues Tuesday:

Borrowing--Bond issues passed easily in Texas ($1 billion for more prisons); North Carolina ($740 million for higher education, water projects and parks); Ohio ($200 million for parks) and Pennsylvania ($50 million for parks and historic sites).

But Colorado voters were in a mood to hold down spending, even on advertising their state’s many charms. They refused to reinstate a 0.2% tourism tax to pay for promotion of the state.

Prison--Washington state voters passed a “three strikes, you’re out” measure that would mandate life terms without parole for three-time felons. Texas voters approved a $1-billion bond issue for more prisons.

Secession--Staten Islanders said yes to pressing on with a move to secede from New York City. Residents of the mostly white, middle-class borough resent having to share the financial burdens of crime and poverty in the rest of the city. A final decision rests with the governor and state Legislature.

Shopping--Well-to-do Bergen County, N.J., with its wealth of shopping malls, left intact its 1959 ban on Sunday shopping. “The fears of more traffic outweighed the convenience of being able to shop on Sunday,” said Joe Lauro, spokesman for the Vote Yes for Sunday Shopping Committee.

Pig out--Voters in Piqua, Ohio, refused to let Roxie, a miniature potbellied pig, live in town. That means Tim and Cynthia Gaston, their two children and Roxie will be moving, if only 15 miles away.

“Roxie never caused a problem here,” Mrs. Gaston lamented. “The only thing that she did wrong was be a pig.”