Editor’s Note 11/15/16: The Results are in!
The upcoming November election features 154 statewide ballot questions, according to Ballotopedia. Many of the measures will affect how local governments operate, from managing a new cache of business licenses, to new requirements for proposed voting system changes to propositions that affect tax revenues and funding for projects. Below is a summary of some notable 2016 ballot questions trends that alter municipal government operations.
#1 Maine’s Ranked Choice Voting & Elections Reform
Results: Yes - 51.99 percent of Maine voters approved of the first statewide ranked choice voting system.
This citizen-led elections question on the Maine ballot could establish a new way of voting for federal and state representatives, allowing voters to rank their choices.
All of Maine’s 500 municipalities count and report their vote tallies to the Maine Secretary of State within three business days of an election. Ranked choice voting would be different, requiring all first-choice votes to be tallied and reported. If one candidate wins more than 50 percent of total votes in the first round, the state will declare that candidate the winner. But if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of a vote in a round one tally, then there would be a second round of counting where the last place candidate from the first round is eliminated. The candidate with the most votes after round two wins the election.
Since the round two counting for any office that encompasses more than one municipality can’t be done by an individual municipality, passing this measure proposes changes in local voting records management.
If ranked choice voting prevails, all of Maine’s municipalities must process electronic ballots or create images of all paper ballots and ensure secure delivery to a central location so subsequent rounds of electoral counting could be performed. If approved, the revised law will take effect within 30 days of the results of the November ballot, although ranked choice voting would not technically be needed until the 2018 election.
Some say Maine could lead the nation in changing how the United States elects public officials because it would be the first state to initiate the change statewide. Currently, 11 cities have switched or are scheduled to switch to ranked choice voting, according to FairVote. If so, it’s a trend that would require small towns or rural areas that do not have electronic tabulation to upgrade to a more digital operation, and possibly replace voting machines.
Several other states also have game-changing ballot questions for how municipal governments handle elections, such as:
- Colorado may open up presidential primary voting to unaffiliated voters.
- Missouri has a proposition to regulate campaign contributions.
- South Dakota is asking voters to decide on establishing non-partisan elections.
#2 Nine States May Expand Marijuana Business
Results: Arizona - No; Arkansas - Yes; California - Yes; Florida - Yes; Maine - Yes; Massachusetts - Yes; Montana - Yes; Nevada - Yes; North Dakota - Yes
This year, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada and North Dakota are considering measures to legalize marijuana or medical marijuana. Ballotopedia listed this measure first in its analysis of the most notable 2016 ballot questions topics because it’s the issue that would affect the largest population. About 82 million people live in states that are considering ways to loosen marijuana laws.
In general, public opinion on marijuana has changed in the last few years. As of 2014, 73 percent of Americans favored medical marijuana, while 53 percent supported decriminalizing possession, according to Ballotopedia. Reducing restrictions on use of marijuana, or legalizing and taxing marijuana use, provides local governments with the authority to regulate and limit marijuana businesses.
For local governments, how states tax retail marijuana can also fund local government infrastructure projects and services. Last year, nearly 70 percent of residents voted to retain Colorado’s marijuana tax revenues, providing nearly $40 million dollars for public school building construction and for other municipal uses, such as law enforcement, youth programs and more. In Massachusetts a yes to legalize retail marijuana in 2016 would result in not only a state sales tax and an excise tax, but an optional 2 percent local tax. If approved, local municipalities that choose to can increase their revenues on new or existing marijuana businesses before the end of the year.
Further food for thought is how marijuana legalization impacts EMS services and the public safety impact of legalization.
#3 California’s Revenue Bonds Approval Measure for Mega Projects
This citizen-led measure would require statewide voter approval of any government project to be financed with more than $2 billion in California state revenue bonds. These government bonds repaid by user revenues, such as tolls, currently do not require voter approval. If passed, the measure known as Proposition 53 would apply to all projects “financed, owned, operated or managed by the state, or by a joint agency formed between the state and a federal government agency, another state and/or a local government,” according to Ballotopedia. The new law would also prevent the loophole of dividing up a large project into smaller ones for the purpose of circumventing statewide voter approval.
California Governor Jerry Brown is against the ballot question because he has said that it gives the Not-in-My-Backyard minded (NIMBYs) the power over projects anywhere in California and will lead to numerous lawsuits, according to the New York Times.
It’s insidious. It’s contrary to any decent civic spirit and once again underscores the power that money from one or a few can have, with possibly devastating consequences,” said Governor Brown.
This is a hot topic in California right now because it would give voters the opportunity to override the $64-billion Los Angeles-to-San Francisco transportation project and the $15.5-billion Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta twin water tunnels, projects Governor Brown has shephered, according to L.A. Times.
“The politicians and the porkers don’t want to lose the power they currently have to issue bonds of mega billions without any one’s permission,” said Dean Cortopassi, former chief executive officer of the Stanislaus Food Products Company that co-created and championed the measure.
Advocates and proponents are going back and forth about the measure as targeting state debt or supporting environmentalists agenda to preserve the river delta estuary. One policy guru that spoke with L.A. Times said that unless targeting these two projects, the Proposition 53 is “stupid.”
Opponents argue that ballot questions like this stymie local control of community infrastructure improvements. While local governments and partners regularly employ revenue bonds to help finance transportation systems, hospitals, jails and power and water sewer systems, voter approval would only be required for mega projects in California costing more than $2 billion. That could include the largest innovative projects, the ilk of those on the Popular Mechanics Most Impressive 2015 list.
