Take time to consider citizen initiatives

July 26, 2005

Spectrum/Loren Leman

As you walk through an Alaska state fair this summer, someone approaches you with a clipboard and pen.

"Are you registered to vote in Alaska?"

"Yes," you say, wondering why the interest.

"Will you sign here to help get our initiative on the ballot?"

What do you do?

Alaskans have the right to work for the passage of citizen initiatives. We also have a responsibility to understand what we are signing.

The citizen initiative is an important part of Alaska's political system. It allows Alaskans to write and approve certain laws directly, without going through the legislative process. If sponsors get enough signatures, the initiative appears on a state election ballot.

However, unlike in California, Arizona and some other states, Alaska's constitution limits what may be passed by initiative. Our state constitution cannot be amended by initiative. Initiatives cannot dedicate revenues, make or repeal appropriations, create courts, define their jurisdiction or prescribe their rules, or enact local or special legislation.

As lieutenant governor, it is my responsibility to receive and process applications for initiative petitions. With legal advice from the Department of Law, I certify or deny certification. As you can imagine, the final decision often leaves someone unhappy. Every lieutenant governor since the position was created 35 years ago has been sued over certification decisions, usually by proponents and opponents of an initiative.

Given the time and expense initiative sponsors must put into getting an initiative on the ballot, a legal review provides sponsors with some assurance that their efforts, if challenged in court, will meet basic requirements for initiatives. No one wants to go through weeks of effort gathering signatures during state fairs, at malls or through door-to-door solicitation, only to find their effort was in vain. Although courts tend to give deference to voters' initiative rights, the prohibitions in our constitution are inescapable.

Some people misunderstand my authority. Many people who contact me believe I ought to decide on certifying initiatives based on whether they're good public policy.

Sometimes the application submitted to me is for a law I do not personally support. But if the application is proper and the subject matter is legal, I must do my constitutional duty and certify. Likewise, if the initiative is deemed unconstitutional, I am bound to not certify.

If I certify an initiative, the Division of Elections prepares signature books for the sponsors to begin collecting signatures. This is where you, the voter, come in.

When a signature gatherer asks you to sign, always check what you are signing, and what the proposed initiative will accomplish. You have no duty to sign the petition.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to ask questions, get a copy of the proposed initiative, walk away to think about it, and then return to sign, if appropriate. Other times, the topic may be so understandable and acceptable to you that you decide to sign on the spot.

The good news is that in Alaska the choice is yours. No matter how much effort or how many TV commercials or newspaper ads groups may put into initiatives, ultimately it's Alaska voters who have the final say.

To learn more about citizen initiatives, visit my Web site at www.ltgov.state.ak.us, featuring updated tables showing the status of initiative applications and length of time for legal review. Another helpful source is the Division of Elections Web site, www.ltgov.state.ak.us /elections/, which is linked from my site.

If you have questions, please feel free to call one of my offices: Anchorage, (907) 269-7460; Juneau, (907) 465-3520.

Lt. Gov. Loren Leman, is a former Republican legislator from Anchorage.