Fine Print on the Ballot

Besides choosing national and local candidates, voters increasingly must deliberate the pros and cons of complex referendums and state constitutional amendments. In Washington state, for instance, voters will face an alltime record of 24 measures. The trend seems to be toward the greening of the ballot. Voters in several states will be asked to accept or reject major environment measures.

California's Proposition 20, called the Coastal Zone Conservation Act, would set up one state and six regional conservation commissions to draw plans for orderly and prudent coastal development within three years, while severely limiting new construction until the blueprint is completed. Opponents of the bill, including Governor Ronald Reagan, argue that it would perceptibly hurt the state's economy and result in a loss of jobs.

Washington state is offering voters the choice of picking one of two separate shoreline management proposals or of rejecting both. Each of the measures would protect coastal areas and wetlands and forbid oil drilling in Puget Sound, but one has stricter provisions and turns greater responsibility over to the state. The weaker measure is already law, but it will cease to be effective if it is not approved by the voters. Floridians will have to decide whether to authorize a $200 million bond issue to purchase lands that the state has decreed to be "environmentally endangered," and another $40 million for recreation land.

In many parts of the country, agricultural acreage is taxed so heavily that farmers are being forced to sell out to developers. Thus much of the nation's bottom land is now sprouting condominiums rather than corn, and asphalt rather than asparagus. Massachusetts residents are presented with a solution: a proposal to tax agricultural and horticultural lands not on the fair market value (what it is worth to developers) but on the agricultural and horticultural value (what it is worth to the grower). The tax relief would apply to tracts larger than five acres that have been under cultivation for at least two years.

The rest of the measures represent a grab-bag of concerns, large and small. Some are old standbys: fluoridation programs, school bonds, lottery and bingo proposals, and wetter or drier liquor laws. Others are new either in scope or in concept. One example is California's incredibly stiff anti-obscenity proposition (TIME, Oct 23). Among the more interesting:

> In California, polls show a popular desire to reinstate the death penalty, and voters there will have a chance to vote on the question. They must also mull over a proposal to strike down criminal penalties for growing and possessing marijuana. Proposition 19, as it is known, does not condone the use of marijuana or legalize its sale. It does, however, permit smokers to grow their own grass. The notion is that pot users could then avoid dealing with pushers, who might also peddle harder drugs. The proposition's supporters point out that it is closely in line with recommendations of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse, a resolution adopted by the American Medical Association, and the conclusions of a Los Angeles County grand jury.

> In New Mexico, a proposal would permit taxation of all church property not specifically used for worship--such as tracts held for income or capital gains. If passed, it could point the way to higher revenues from church lands for other states.

> A group of concerned Coloradans has managed to stick on the ballot a proposal that would cut off state funds for Denver's scheduled 1976 Winter Olympics. The proponents of the measure argue that the money should be spent for more worthwhile causes, and stress the dangers of overcrowding and environmental pollution the Olympics might bring. Those who favor the Olympics so far have raised $150,000 to lobby on their own behalf, arguing that the Winter Games will create jobs and permanent buildings for public use. If the measure passes and state funds are withheld from the Games, the event will likely have to be held elsewhere.

As important as many of these measures are, there is considerable evidence that the voters are ignorant about them. Since it usually requires a petition signed by only a small percentage of the voters to place a measure on the ballot, public awareness depends largely on the local media and promotional efforts. Mervin Field's California poll, for instance, shows that three-fourths of the state's voters either know nothing about the proposal to legalize the possession of marijuana or know too little to come to a judgment. There is no reason to suppose that the electorates in other states are any better informed. It is common for people to go to the polls and simply ignore the questions. If even a small percentage of voters abstain on a closely disputed measure they can prevent it from becoming law. Historically, ballot measures are more often vetoed than passed.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.