California's 2010 Elections promise to be filled with change. Not only will a new governor be elected, but the ballot stands to be packed full of propositions that change how Californians are governed. 
Below is the latest information about initiatives that have qualified for the 2010 Ballot. Further below is information about the State of California's Initiative Process for Qualification, the Proposition Structure, and links to the state's proposition history. Information regarding California's overall election information can be found here.
A ballot measure only becomes a ballot measure upon qualification of the initiative measure process. Once an initiative qualifies for a ballot, the ballot measure is then assigned a proposition number. Currently, there are over 50 initiatives in circulation with the near teens failing to qualify.
General Election - November 2010 |
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Primary Election - June 2010 |
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Prop 13 - Pass |
Prop 14 - Pass |
Prop 15 - Fail |
Prop 16 - Fail |
Prop 17 - Fail |
INITIATIVE PROCESS
- Step One - Writing the Text of the Law
- Step Two - Request for Title and Summary
- Step Three - Circulation (signatures: initiatives = 433,971 & amendments = 694,354)
- Step Four - Circulating and Signing
- Step Five - Filing
- Verification
- Qualification and Approval
- Public Inspection and Preservation
- Voter Guide Preparation
- Election
CA Secretary of State's Official Guide
PROPOSITION STRUCTURE
After ballot qualifications expire and all initiatives are approved for the state ballot, proposition numbers will be assigned in sequential order of qualification. With the last few years, the State of California amended the ballot numbering structure with numbers in the 300s. Today's structure is 1 to 99. Upon reaching the 99th ballot measure, the assignment pool resets back to 1.
As each proposition is offered on the state ballot, each is assigned a FOR & AGAINST position. The proponent typically represents the FOR position and after ballot measure qualification, the opposition is offered time to construct an opposing position against the ballot measure.
BALLOT MEASURE HISTORY
The initiative process was first implemented in California in 1911, with several states preceding. This marked the first time that citizens were allowed to qualify initiatives on the ballot as opposed to the Legislature being on the only entity. A link to a study conducted by the Secretary of State below provides a good synopsis of the history, as well as, arranges data in various ways to offer a variety of views of the data and easily detect trends.
History of California Initiatives (pdf - 470KB)
Check back periodically, as Ballot Portal will release trend metrics relative to Ballot Measures here in California.
Other resources for detailed history of ballot measures are found at the Hastings College of Law Databases:
- Hastings California Ballot Initiatives
- Hastings California Ballot Propositions
- Hastings California Ballot Pamphlets
BALLOTPEDIA's Ballot Measures by Year
