The President of California Act, and other ideas that did not make the November ballot

Opinion: The President of California Act, and other ideas that did not make the November ballot

A woman fills out a ballot at City Hall in San Francisco on Tuesday, June 7.

By Mariel Garza

July 1, 2016 10:55 AM PT

The secretary of state finalized California’s November ballot Thursday with 17 measures, some of which (marijuana legalization, plastic bag ban, criminal sentencing) could dramatically alter life in this state.

The list could conceivably get longer. The Legislature is still mulling three more measures, and it has the power to bend election deadline rules.

But as long as this ballot may be, it could have been worse.

Dozens more ballot proposals didn’t make it through the qualification process. In many cases, it was with good reason.

Below are a few — phew! — of the proposed ballot measures that voters will not have to decide in November.

Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18. It would have been interesting to see what voters did on this question in light of the recent law raising the legal age for tobacco from 18 to 21.
Holocaust denial restrictions. It would have restricted free speech if it was used to deny the Jewish, Armenian or Ukrainian holocaust. Probably unconstitutional because the 1st Amendment protects even delusional speech.
Personhood for fetuses. This end-run around Roe v. Wade would have extended constitutional protections to fertilized eggs.
A prohibition on charter schools.
A sales tax on political ads.
Legalizing the ownership of ferrets. Yes, it’s illegal to keep these cute critters as pets in California, and it seems it will remain so in the near future.
A cap on pay and benefits for healthcare executives and administrators at whatever the U.S. president earns, currently $450,000, which isn’t very much in the CEO world. This was forced off the ballot at the last minute because of a lawsuit by hospitals.
The Stop-the-Train-to-Nowhere Act.
Public financing for elections.
A murderous anti-gay proposal so offensive that Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris asked a judge to find it unconstitutional. That’s what happened.
The President of California Act, which would have changed the title of the top state officer from “governor” to “president,” was filed by a group that wants California to secede from the union. The group also filed related initiatives that would have prepared the state for its sovereignty, such as giving the state’s bear flag top billing over the Stars and Stripes.