Slew of measures tests voter initiative

Alicia Robinson

Voters will have to do some homework to make sense of the host of

political initiatives they’ll see on the November ballot.

A list of 14 initiatives have been qualified by the secretary of

state’s office to appear on the ballot.

California voters have traditionally embraced the freedom to put

measures on the ballot, but if there’s no limit on how many issues

can qualify, it can be confusing to voters, UC Irvine political

science professor Mark Petracca said.

“Large numbers of ballot initiatives are never a good thing

because voters, quite rationally, tend to vote ‘no’ more often when

they don’t have adequate information,” he said.

Some voters, like Natasha Palmaer of Corona del Mar, go the extra

mile to learn about ballot initiatives before they get to the voting

booth. She and her friends have held dinner parties to discuss the

merits of ballot initiatives in the past, she said, but too much

homework has left her weary and somewhat disillusioned.

“It’s my civic duty to stay informed and stay on top of these, but

at the same time, I’m also wary of how these propositions have gotten

onto the ballot,” Palmaer said.

It makes her wonder why she votes for legislators, she said.

“I believe that we have become overburdened as the voter

legislates through the voting box when we have hired legislators to

make those decisions,” she said.

Among the initiatives are two competing measures dealing with

open-primary elections. One would allow voters, regardless of their

party registration, to vote for any candidate in the primary

election, and the top two vote-getters would advance to the general

election. The other measure is a constitutional amendment proposed by

Sen. Ross Johnson that would block the open primary and keep the

present system requiring voters to select from their party’s

candidates in primaries.

“I believe the open primary constitutional amendment, as it will

appear on the ballot this November, will result in extremely

expensive campaigns because it will give everyone who loses a primary

a do-over,” 68th District Assemblyman Ken Maddox said.

Despite both major political parties’ opposition of the

pro-open-primary measure, Petracca expects people to support it

because voters overwhelmingly passed a similar measure in 1996 later

thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, Petracca said, the

court’s broad ruling on the earlier issue may make it hard for any

open-primary measure to pass constitutional muster.

Also on the ballot are two measures that would place different

requirements on the state’s agreements with tribes on Indian gaming;

a constitutional amendment that would require voters to approve any

future reduction in funding the state gives local governments; a 3%

telephone-rate surcharge to pay for training and equipment for

emergency and medical personnel; and a constitutional amendment that

would set aside state funding for stem-cell research.

The business community has supported an initiative to repeal a

state law requiring businesses with 20 or more employees to offer

healthcare benefits to workers.

“It’s taking things a little bit too far,” Costa Mesa Chamber of

Commerce Executive Director Ed Fawcett said. “You can probably

anticipate business support for that particular initiative.”

For more information on November ballot initiatives, visit the

secretary of state’s website at https://www.ss.ca.gov.

-- Simon Brown contributed to this report.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.