Election day lawmaking: facing 204 ballot measures, voters turned down more than they passed.Americans approved a mix of conservative and liberal measures on Election Day and sent some surprising signals on tax relief, same-sex marriage Noun 1. same-sex marriage - two people of the same sex who live together as a family; "the legal status of same-sex marriages has been hotly debated" couple, twosome, duet, duo - a pair who associate with one another; "the engaged couple"; "an inseparable , abortion restrictions and tobacco taxes. Voters took firm stands on taxes, minimum wage, marijuana legalization LEGALIZATION. The act of making lawful. 2. By legalization, is also understood the act by which a judge or competent officer authenticates a record, or other matter, in order that the same may be lawfully read in evidence. Vide Authentication. , abortion restrictions, immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. restrictions, eminent domain eminent domain, the right of a government to force the owner of private property sell it if it is needed for a public use. The right is based on the doctrine that a sovereign state has dominion over all lands and buildings within its borders, which has its origins in and smoking restrictions. They were reluctant to approve measures to reduce government power but receptive to conservative-leaning measures. Liberal-leaning measures received mixed results. Americans acted on 204 measures on Tuesday and took a more cautious approach to the 76 placed by the initiative process, the second highest in the last eight election cycles. Only a little more than a third of those initiatives were approved, compared with 48 percent of initiatives approved between 1990 and 2004. LIMITING GOVERNMENT Almost all of the initiatives that sought to limit the power of government failed. These included: * The broader, more controversial property rights measures called regulatory takings Regulatory taking refers to a situation in which a government regulates a property to such a degree that the regulation effectively amounts to an exercise of the government's eminent domain power without actually divesting the property's owner of title to the property. (the narrower, more straightforward eminent domain measures are not included in this group). * Term limits. * Efforts to expand the initiative process. * Limits on the judiciary. * Tax and spending limitations (aka TABOR). * Major tax and revenue cuts. Of the 17 measures in this vein, just one passed--a combined regulatory takings/eminent domain initiative in Arizona. Similar measures in California and Idaho failed, as well as a simple regulatory takings initiative in Washington. Legislative term limits failed to pass in Oregon, which will almost certainly drive a nail in the coffin of the term limits movement. Measures to rein in to check the speed of, or cause to stop, by drawing the reins. to cause (a person) to slow down or cease some activity; - to rein in is used commonly of superiors in a chain of command, ordering a subordinate to moderate or cease some activity deemed excessive. See also: Rein Rein the judiciary failed in three states, including South Dakota's sweeping "judicial accountability" measure. This would have let a panel of volunteers draft rules for how judges, juries, prosecutors and certain local officials must make decisions. The panel would also be empowered to decide who followed the rules, and to punish those who didn't with fines, jail time, and the loss of public pension and insurance benefits. Also failing to pass were three state tax and expenditure limit proposals patterned after Colorado's Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) amendment. Why these surprising results when voters turned on incumbents and so obviously voiced a frustration with government? These were faux-populist measures. Rather than arising from a local grassroots movement and popular demand for change, these initiatives owe much to out-of-state supporters. Most petitions were circulated by out-of-state groups. Campaigns for and against them were also largely financed by out-of-state money. This fact was widely criticized in the media. Out-of-state influence in initiative campaigns is certainly not a new tendency, but has been growing steadily over the past decade. Perhaps voters finally said "enough is enough." Another negative influence affecting the vote in these anti-government initiatives may have been the large number of similar measures that were blocked from the ballot by the courts for irregularities or outright fraud in the petition process (there were at least eight TABOR and regulatory takings measures blocked in five states). Again, this was widely reported in the media, and contributed to negative voter attitudes toward these issues this year. OTHER CONSERVATIVE-LEANING MEASURES Most other conservative-leaning measures, with the exception of abortion, fared well in the polls. Although voters said no to all three abortion restrictions on the ballot, they approved most bans on same-sex marriage. The single exception is Arizona, where voters for the first time in any state rejected such a ban. Coloradans rejected creating domestic partnerships. All immigration measures on the ballot in Arizona and Colorado also passed, along with a ban on affirmative action affirmative action, in the United States, programs to overcome the effects of past societal discrimination by allocating jobs and resources to members of specific groups, such as minorities and women. in Michigan. LIBERAL-LEANING MEASURES Liberal-leaning measures generally fared well this year, with a few exceptions. Minimum wage hikes passed in all six states where they were on the ballot. Missouri's stem cell stem cell In living organisms, an undifferentiated cell that can produce other cells that eventually make up specialized tissues and organs. There are two major types of stem cells, embryonic and adult. research measure narrowly passed. A measure increasing usage of renewable energy Renewable energy utilizes natural resources such as sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat, which are naturally replenished. Renewable energy technologies range from solar power, wind power, and hydroelectricity to biomass and biofuels for transportation. in Washington passed Washington Pass (el. 5477 ft./1669 m.) and Rainy Pass (el. 4875 ft./1486 m.) are two mountain passes on Washington State Route 20 (North Cascades Highway) in the North Cascades mountains of Washington State. Rainy Pass is about 4 miles to the west of Washington Pass. . California voters rejected an oil tax to fund alternative energy research incentives. OTHER NOTABLE MEASURES * While the property rights measures on regulatory takings didn't fare so well, all of the straightforward eminent domain measures passed. (These prohibit using eminent domain for economic development.) * In Arizona, Nevada and Ohio, voters faced competing smoking bans. They chose the stricter in all three. Now 16 states have state wide smoking bans. * There were mixed results on tobacco tax increases. They passed in Arizona and South Dakota South Dakota (dəkō`tə), state in the N central United States. It is bordered by North Dakota (N), Minnesota and Iowa (E), Nebraska (S), and Wyoming and Montana (W). and failed in California and Missouri. * Expanded access Expanded access refers to the inclusion of patients in a clinical trial for a new therapeutic treatment or chemical entity, where those patients would not satisfy the enrolment criteria for the scientific study in progress. to the Oregon prescription drug prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, program passed. * Across the nation, voters authorized bonding that totals more than $43 billion. * Arizona voters rejected both the $1 million voter lottery and vote-by-mail. * Rhode Island Rhode Island, island, United States Rhode Island, island, 15 mi (24 km) long and 5 mi (8 km) wide, S R.I., at the entrance to Narragansett Bay. It is the largest island in the state, with steep cliffs and excellent beaches. passed a measure automatically restoring voting rights Voting rights The right to vote on matters that are put to a vote of security holders. For example the right to vote for directors. voting rights The type of voting and the amount of control held by the owners of a class of stock. to felons when they're released from prison. * Criminal justice measures passed in three states. There will be no more probation for methamphetamine offenses in Arizona. Californians called for strict monitoring of sex offenders sex offender n. generic term for all persons convicted of crimes involving sex, including rape, molestation, sexual harassment and pornography production or distribution. and placed restrictions on where they can live. Voters in Hawaii passed stricter punishment for sexual assault crimes against children. * Education measures saw very mixed results. Colorado's "65% solution" proposals both failed. They would have required 65 percent of education budgets to go to classroom instruction. Funding increases for early childhood education were approved in Arizona and Nebraska. Nevada passed a requirement that education be funded before any other budget item. All education-related bond measures passed. And an estate tax repeal that would have cut education funding was rejected in Washington. But tax increases to fund education were rejected in California and Idaho. Mandatory funding levels for education failed in Michigan. A slot machine program generating revenue for scholarships failed in Ohio. DID BALLOT MEASURES AFFECT CANDIDATE RACES? There was much discussion leading into this year's election about how same-sex marriage, minimum wage, and other clearly partisan measures might increase voter turnout and help one party or the other's candidates. There is no clear picture on this. Unlike the 2004 election in Ohio, when a same-sex marriage ban was the only statewide issue on the ballot and its influence was easy to see, this year's ballots were crowded, with plenty of measures on both ends of the political spectrum and in between. It is difficult if not impossible to untangle the results of ballot measures and candidate races to determine how they might have influenced each other. Jennie Drage Bowser Bowser may mean:
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