Author: Gerry Maravilla
There has been a lot of talk concerning the propositions on the ballot for Nov. 4. While voters will make decisions on many important issues I really must take issue with entire proposition process in general. What we face as voters in the upcoming election is an example of direct democracy gone terribly wrong in our state.
The forefathers and writers of the Constitution created this country as a republic and not a direct democracy. Our role as citizens is to vote in legislatures that will represent our interests. We are supposed to leave the policy making to them. While the idea of being able vote for or against laws that our representatives may not have on their own is as an appealing one, yet, the practice in the state of California is an utter joke.
All someone needs to do to get a proposition on the ballot in this state is obtain signatures from five percent of the population that voted in the last gubernatorial election. With voter turnout generally reaching around 50 percent in presidential elections, the standard of five percent is absurd. All it takes is a wealthy interest group from either side of the political spectrum to pay someone to hangout in front of your local grocery store or Target and get signatures. Basically wealthy citizens unhappy with the laws being passed in Sacramento can create their own policy by means of their wallets and bank accounts.
This is why we keep seeing the same propositions election after election. Notifying parents about a minor’s abortion? The state already voted on that! It did not pass. Can the state please focus its efforts elsewhere?
In 2006 the state of California passed proposition 86, AKA Jessica’s Law. Modeled after the same law in Florida, Jessica’s Law provided lifelong GPS monitoring of convicted sex criminals. Although interest groups and the population in general wanted this law, funding for it was not and is currently not being provided. The proposition did not specify where the law would get its economic backing. This is one example where, as citizens, our role is not to make policy. Propositions made by special interest groups do not do an adequate job of writing policy.
Propositions also subvert the separation of powers in our system of government. Lobbyists and interest groups upset at the legislature for not passing a law or upset at the governor for vetoing a law, simply pay for signatures and place a proposition on the ballot. This subverts the idea that the three branches of government hold checks and balances over one another. It places the power of lawmaking into the hands of rich interest groups, and that does not sound like democracy.
Proponents of direct democracy argue that it holds our lawmakers accountable for not addressing the issues we care about. However we already can do that by voting them out of office. Direct democracy is the wrong cure for the country’s bigger problem: voter participation.
This Nov. 4, I am faced with moral conundrum. I am adamantly opposed to California’s proposition process, but I care about the possible laws that could take effect after the election. What is the best way to protest this broken system? Do I vote against all the propositions? Do I not vote on any of them? While I will wrestle with this issue until election day there is one thing I am sure of: the proposition process has to change.
Gerry Maravilla is a senior AHVA major. He can be reached at gmaravilla@oxy.edu.
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