Major Progressive Victories (and Some Defeats) in Ballot Measures Across the Country

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http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/major-progressive-victories-and-some-defeats-ballot-measures-across-country



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1. Taxes

There are more tax questions on Tuesday’s state ballots than any other topic—31 in all. On the progressive side are revenue-raising measures to see if voters have had enough with years of budget cuts to schools and other needed state services. On the other side of the political spectrum are measures making it harder to raise taxes for public services.

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2. Labor Unions

Like the Illinois pension proposal, there are other anti-union measures on state ballots. Most significant was California’s Proposition 32 , which resurrected a proposal defeated in 1998 and 2005 that prohibited union dues from being used for political purposes without an individual member’s approval. It also would have ban government contractors from donating to campaigns. It was headed for defeat, with only 45 percent of voters backing it, based on 64 percent of precincts reporting.


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3. Democracy Issues

There are a range of democracy issues, starting in Michigan where voters appear to have narrowly repealed emergency powers legislation that the state’s GOP-controlled legislature passed enabling it to allow local governments—such as the city of Detroit—to revoke and rewrite existing contracts, including wages and benefits. The vote is a defeat for the state’s GOP, which has delighted in taking over Democratic-run cities and revising wage, benefit and pension contracts, canceling projects and other contracted obligations. The law had been called blatantly illegal under different provisions of the Michigan and U.S. constitutions.

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4. Marriage Equality

The marriage equality movement won some important victories on Tuesday. Same-sex marriage has been on state ballots for nearly a decade but not in a positive way. Thirty out of 31 state ballot measures have banned gay marriage, including in California. In contrast, same-sex marriage victories consistently have come from the courts or legislatures—not voters. On Tuesday that changed.

***more at link

[Kolesar]

1. Ohio lost Issue 2, the anti-gerrymandering initiative.

POS/SOS John Husted made the ballot language "unreadable" by putting the whole text on the ballot.