Federal Election Day could become a holiday in California, and to get the process going, Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced today that Roy Benson, the proponent of a new initiative, can begin collecting petition signatures for his measure. more ›

The numbers from a new LA Times/USC poll shows that the percentage of voters in California who have tried pot are also the voters who say they're likely to approve the ballot initiative to legalize the drug in the state, according to the Times. more ›

No surprise for the low-key ballot initiative to repeal Prop 8, which did not qualify for November's ballot today (not enough signatures were collected). Here's why some believe it's no big deal: "Gay-rights activists are divided over the wisdom of returning to the ballot so soon after voters approved Proposition 8 and believe that the 2012 presidential election would generate a larger and more sympathetic voter turnout," the San Diego Union-Tribune reported explained morning. "Some activists say they believe the federal court challenge to Proposition 8’s constitutionality offers the best hope of overturning the ban." And if that doesn't work, the 2012 Presidential election will draw out more voters than this year's mid-term one. more ›

Looks like the tradition of divorce is safe for now. The initiative to place a proposition on the ballot to eliminate the law allowing married couples to divorce failed to qualify, the Secretary of State's office announced yesterday. The 2010 California Marriage Protection Act was "the brain-child of concerned Christian and political activist John Marcotte, who felt strongly that Prop 8 did not go far enough in protecting traditional marriage." Touché! According to the state's Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance, banning divorce would have saved the state "up to hundreds of millions of dollars annually for support of the court system due to the elimination of divorce proceedings." more ›

An initiative backers hope will make a future ballot has the potential to change the state's budget process in big ways. Question is, will the outcomes be good or bad? more ›

A new initiative that would increase the tax on alcohol was cleared for signature gathering today by the Secretary of State's Office. And it's not a modest tax increase, it's huge. Tax on a six-pack of beer would increase from 6-cents to $6.08. And say goodbye to two-buck chuck--a tax on a 750 ml bottle of wine would go from 4-cents to $5.11. And the tax on a 750 ml bottle of distilled spirits would increase from from 65-cents to $17.57. more ›

80 initiatives and referenda and are out and about around the state with advocates trying to collect enough signatures so they can qualify for an upcoming election ballot. You might see people at farmers markets asking you to support... more ›

Culver City has been working on a Bicycle and Pedestrian Initiative that's currently in draft mode. The city's location between the Cheviot and Baldwin Hills as well as the Ballona Creek and eight major roads and freeways "has led to the development of an irregular (broken-grid) roadway network which presents unique challenges for non-motorized transportation." more ›

For over a year now, Los Angeles resident Jacob Soboroff of Why Tuesday? has been traveling the country asking one eponymous question: Why Tuesday? It's to prove that the reason we vote on Tuesdays is outdated and may not be the strongest day for voter participation (the long answer is below). Currently, the Weekend Voting Act is in both the House and the Senate, introduced by Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) and Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), respectively. more ›

We had a very big story on LAist, that got a lot of people excited about the potential for a new system that would legalize weed for all adults to be put on the ballot this November. The excitement was fueled with the hope of many that the nearly 700,000 signatures by Sept. 5, 2008 appeared very likely. The only question that was at the front of everyone's mind was, "WHERE DO I SIGN?!" more ›