Take the initiative: step-by-step tips on how to put an issue on the ballot

Campaigns & Elections,  June-July, 1993  by Richard Arnold

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Last year, the political process seemed to catch the public's fancy for the first time in at least two decades. The phenomenon led to a burst of activity on the initiative front, with a record 69 qualifying for statewide ballots. The emphasis of initiative campaigns also shifted, from high-dollar fund raising to volunteer-driven activities.

In the wake of talk show campaigns, and the Perot movement, far more people are now willing to involve themselves in the making of public policy; they want to have more direct influence over political decisions and are volunteering in record numbers. Many of last year's ballot issue drives collected most of their petition signatures with volunteers, reversing a long-term trend toward the use of private companies and paid canvassers.

These developments call for a reappraisal of strategies for qualifying questions for the ballot, suggested steps are outlined here.

Three Phases to Weave

Initiative efforts have two preliminary stages, the pre-circulation phase and the circulation phase, before the customary electoral phase begins.

During the pre-circulation phase, the coalition is formed around a specific goal. The laws and ballot rules must be thoroughly researched and understood.

State election agencies will provide information on the number of signatures required, deadlines for filing, petition format, etc. Study the rules and follow them to the letter throughout the campaign. Often, popular initiative movements are kept off the ballot by the courts, on technical objections.

Once there is agreement on the objective, the exact wording of the initiative must be agreed upon. This complicated task should include the best political and legal advice available. Frequently, focus groups and polls help determine the best way to phrase the initiative in terms of persuading voters. Start early! Time is truly money in initiative campaigns.

When we handled the circulation phase for the Colorado Educational Voucher Initiative (CEVI) last year, we had less than 12 weeks to collect about 80,000 raw signatures. The measure -- which would have given parents vouchers that could be exchanged for tuition at public, private, or religious schools -- was a controversial one, mightily opposed by the teacher organizations. Validation would be sternly contested, and competition for signatures was fierce -- 10 issues qualified for the ballot and three others came close.

We ultimately succeeded, using five steps along the way:

1. Raise Money -- The most successful petition campaigns have financial commitments and a time line already in place before they begin circulating. For the 1990 ballot in California, successful signature campaigns spent an average of $1.14 per signature. Colorado state law requires nearly 50,000 valid signatures for ballot qualification; because of the difficulty in matching signer qualifications, a general rule of thumb is to get eight raw signatures for every five valid ones required. Therefore, we calculated we needed to collect at least 80,000 raw signatures, which -- at a unit cost of $1.14 -- would require a petition budget of about $92,000. Ultimately, we collected more signatures for less money.

Fortunately, the sponsoring organization, Coloradans for School Choice (CSC), had done all the pre-circulation work prior to contacting me, including raising a significant amount of money. The issue had been attempted in 1984 and 1988 and much of those support networks were still intact.

2. Print Petitions -- Since the wording had already been completed, the initiative was immediately filed with the secretary of state. A printed copy of the petition must be approved by the secretary of state prior to circulation. As in most states, the approval process takes several weeks. When the petition was finally released for circulation, we had only 58 days to collect 80,000 signatures.

A petition packet should be created that includes petitions, fact sheets, circulator instructions, circulator rights, local contacts, voter registration information, and deadlines.

3. Establish an Office to Process Signatures -- We established a headquarters that was responsible for planning, coordinating, printing, distributing, retrieving, processing, validating, storing, and submitting all petitions.

All contacts were placed in the computer. Contact with circulators was direct, in person, by telephone or by fax. Short on money and time, the campaign did only one mailing during the circulation phase.

Because Colorado requires that each petition section be signed by the circulator in front of a notary, it was not possible to get signatures through a mailing. This requirement always makes it harder to get volunteer signatures; the paid circulation unit of our effort simply arranged to have a notary in the office at turn-in times.

Each signature block must be checked at HQ for legal compliance. A small random sample of the signatures should be checked against the voter roles to determine what percentage are valid registered voters.