ballot initiatives

The final Washington Poll from Saturday, November 1 showed a mixed bag of support for the state's major initiatives, even as all four of those surveyed displayed a negative trend from the group's October 27 undertaking.

I-1000 and I-1029 continue to have significant support, but I-985 and Sound Transit's Proposition 1 have faltered in the last week.

I-1029, which would require more training for certain social service workers,  is favored by 60 percent of voters, down a few points from the previous poll, and I-1000, which would legalize physician-assisted suicide, has the support of 53 percent of the state's electorate in the latest poll. Last week it had 56 percent backing.

Attorney General Martha Coakley said Friday that Question 2, the ballot measure that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, sends the wrong message to children and adolescents.

Coakley, a Medford Democrat, was speaking at a conference with legal officials and school officials in Somerville.

"Decriminalization of marijuana will send a message to children and young adults that it is okay to use and abuse illegal substances," Coakley said, according to a statement. "Not only is there a direct link between marijuana use and juvenile crime, but marijuana use is also the primary cause for adolescent inpatient substance abuse treatment. Those of us in the law enforcement community, and perhaps more importantly, those who work directly with children and teenagers, are gravely concerned about the impact any decriminalization will have on our youth."  

A new SurveyUSA poll sponsored by KING-TV shows support for Sound Transit's latest Proposition 1 measure that would expand mass transit, but the proposition's electoral outlook gets much closer when voters are aware of the proposition's $18 billion price tag.

When simply asked whether they supported the measure, respondents said yes 49 percent of the time compared with 30 percent who did not favor the measure.

However, the sampled who were also told about the proposition's cost only favored the bill by a 43-37 margin.

The poll, which split the way the question was framed, asked a total of 503 likely voters from the transit district, found a combined count of 47-33 in favor, and claims a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.

Paul Jacob from the Sam Adams Alliance, a conservative fee market think-tank, lists his top 10 ballot initiative for the November election. Neither Maine's People's Veto proposal or the Oxford County Casino appear in the top 10.

However, Maine does get a mention under number 4, which is North Dakota's Measure 2, an initiative that would reduce state income tax for individuals by 50 percent and the corporate income tax by 15 percent.. Mr. Jacobs notes that,  "Maine voters may veto Governor Baldacci's tax increase on beer, wine and soft drinks to fund the Dirigo Health Choice program, after citizens collected enough signatures to force a referendum."

The group behind this year's ballot question that would prohibit dog racing in Massachusetts said Tuesday that they are planning on coupling a grassroots campaign with television advertising to get their message out.

The Committee to Protect Dogs hopes to convince voters to vote yes on Question 3 on this year's November ballot. Carey Theil, a senior advisor with the group, told PolitickerMA.com that they are already off and running and are planning a multi-faceted campaign.

"We will run an effective free media campaign," she said. "We will do television advertising and a paid media campaign to get our message out."

A new poll shows Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire with a large lead over Republican challenger Dino Rossi. The survey, which took place July 27-31 with a relatively small sample of 405 registered voters, had Gregoire up by a count of 52 percent to 36 percent with 12 percent undecided. Gregoire defeated Rossi in 2004 in the closest election in state history, and forecasters have been labeling their rematch one of the tightest gubernatorial races in the nation.

Initiative 1000, the ballot initiative that would allow terminally ill patients the choice to seek life-ending medication, officially qualified for the November ballot Thursday when Secretary of State Sam Reed's office determined they had turned in more than the required 224,800 valid signatures from voters across the state.

"People all over Washington support death with dignity, and we're building momentum daily. We're going to go all the way," said former governor Booth Gardner.

Gardner, who suffers from Parkinson's Disease, has been the leading backer and a chief spokesman for the campaign so far.

Opponents of Initiative I-1029, which would require more training for home care workers in the state, have filed a lawsuit arguing that the wording on the ballot petitions, which incorrectly called it an initiative to the legislature instead of one for the people, should be taken as fact.

Secretary of State Same Reed, however, stands by the initiative's misstated intent. 

A proposed initiative to allow smoking in certain businesses, notably private clubs and cigar bars, has fallen painfully short of the 224,800 signatures required to gain a place on the November ballot. The Olympian has a story on the ill-fated Initiative 1016, which collected more than 213,000 signatures, just over 10,000 short of the necessary amount.

The other prominent ballot initiatives to hit the magic mark were I-1000, which would permit doctors to prescribe lethal doses of medication to terminally ill patients, I-985, which would change some of the priorities of the Department of Transportation in accordance with an audit completed last year, and I-1029, which would require more training for home care workers.

The Statesman Journal is reporting that of the 10 ballot initiatives looking to be added by the voters, nine of them are sponsored by Republican interests.