Propositions Numbered 1 to 11 on California November Ballot as Deadline Passes--But Legislature and Governor Could Place Additio

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen just a few hours ago announced proposition numbers for the 11 measures that will appear on the November 4, 2008, General Election ballot.

In a statement released with the number of 11 ballot measures, she took pains to indicate that although yesterday was the deadline for placing measures on the ballot, this requirement can be waived if there is an agreement by the governor and legislature. The statutory deadline for placing legislative and initiative measures on the ballot was yesterday, June 26.

It is not uncommon for this to occur with last minute negotiations that bend and blow through deadlines which are extended with the ballot measure that is passed and signed by the governor. If there is an extended delay, given the timelines for submitting arguments pro and con and other preparation of the voters’ pamphlet, there could be the need for a supplemental ballot pamphlet.

There is speculation in the Capitol that there may be at least one ballot proposition involving the budget—dealing with the California state lottery, and some well placed sources are optimistic that a deal on the state budget will emerge sooner rather than later with that being the part of additional revenue, along with cuts, the closure of some tax loopholes, and increases in fees, taxes, or other revenues.

Elections Code section 13115 sets the order in which the measures must appear on the ballot. Legislative bond measures are first, followed by legislative constitutional amendments, other legislative measures, citizen initiative measures, and referenda. Measures are listed within their category in the order in which they qualified. The proposition numbers for the November ballot measures are listed below with the Attorney General’s official titles and summaries, except in the case of Proposition 1, which is a legislative measure.

If there is an additional item or items placed on the ballot by agreement, it could be assigned a number, such as Prop 1A, and the order that measures will appear on the ballot would be changed, but not the numbers for those announced by the Secretary of State’s office. The order of placement on the ballot is sometimes important as voters fatigue and there is both a drop off in voting on measures as they appear late on the ballot and sometimes an increasing negative vote as voters go down the ballot.

Here is what we have for November as of now: