Meeting yesterday’s deadline, 17 groups have filed 30 petitions for proposed laws or constitutional amendments on topics such as tolls, sales tax, local aid, commercial fishing, charter schools, alternative energy, among others. Of the 30 petitions, five constitutional amendments were filed for the 2012 ballot. Some initiative petition sponsors submitted more than one version of a petition on the same topic.
An initiative petition is a way for citizens to propose laws and constitutional amendments to appear on the statewide ballot, for voter approval. The first step in the process leading to the 2010 ballot (for laws) or the 2012 ballot (for constitutional amendments) is for 10 voters to sign a petition containing the proposed law or constitutional amendment and to file it with the AGO by 5:00 p.m. yesterday (August 5, 2009).
The Attorney General must review all petitions filed to determine whether they meet certain constitutional requirements - including, in particular, whether a petition addresses any subjects that the Constitution excludes from the initiative process. If the petition is certified as meeting the constitutional requirements, the Attorney General also prepares a summary of the proposed law (or constitutional amendment) to appear on petitions for gathering additional signatures and on the ballot.
To learn more about next steps and the initiative petition process, view a press release on the AGO website. The Current Petitions Filed page will be updated with the progress of each petition, including the AGO’s September 2nd decision on each petition, summaries of certified petitions, and explanatory letters responding to legal issues raised by members of the public regarding some petitions.
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