Laws governing the initiative process in Alaska
From Ballotpedia
Contents |
Citizens of Alaska may initiate legislation through the process of indirect initiative legislation. They may not amend their constitution or directly propose legislation.
Prohibited initiative subjects
Alaska's initiative law specifically prohibits initiatives on certain subjects, in the Alaska Constitution, Article XI, Section 7. Initiatives cannot:
- Dedicate revenues;
- Make or repeal appropriations;
- Create courts;
- Define the jurisdiction of courts or prescribe their rules;
- Enact local or special legislation.
First steps
Proponents must first file an application with the Lieutenant Governor's office[1] and pay a deposit of $100 made payable to the State of Alaska. This deposit will be refunded when the petition is properly filed and the measure is certified. Proponents must file with the application a full copy of the proposed bill, in addition to 3 prime sponsors with a statement that they are the initiative committee representing all other sponsors. The signatures of at least 100 qualified voters who will serve as sponsors of the ballot measure for circulation purposes must also be submitted.
- A copy of the proposed bill must be attached to each signature page.
- Each signature page must contain a statement that the proposed bill was attached to the petition when the voter signed it.
Review Process
After the application has been processed, it is the responsibility of the Lieutenant Governor to have the 100 signatures of qualified voters reviewed and verified by the Alaska Division of Elections. The application is then reviewed by the Alaska Department of Law. The Department of Law checks the application for legal content and advises the Lieutenant Governor on whether to deny or approve the application. The application will be denied if:
- It is not in proper form.
- Does not include all required elements.
- There are an insufficient number of qualified voter sponsors.
- The bill covers an issue restricted by the constitution. Under the Alaska constitution, ballot measures may not apply to:
- dedicated revenues;
- make or repeal appropriations;
- create courts;
- define jurisdiction of courts;
- enact local Nominations or special obligations.
Additionally, the proposed bill must:
- Cover only one subject.
- The subject must contain the enacting clause "Be it enacted by the People of the State of Alaska."
After certification
The Lieutenant Governor will notify the sponsors of acceptance and include a copy of the Department of Law's formal legal opinion and impartial summary. The prime sponsors have the opportunity to review the impartial summary and the title of the bill. The Division of Elections is responsible for printing 500 petition booklets and the initial distribution of the booklets to each of the other qualified sponsors who will circulate the petition and gather signatures.
Petition booklets include:
- a copy of the proposed bill (if 500 words or less);
- an impartial summary of the subject matter of the bill;
- a statement of minimum costs to the state associated with certification of the initiative application and review of the initiative petition, excluding legal costs to the state and the costs to the state of any challenge to the validity of the petition;
- an estimate of the cost to the state of implementing the proposed law;
- a statement of warning as prescribed in AS 15.45.100;
- sufficient space for the printed name, a numerical identifer, the signature, the date of signature, and the address of each *person siging the petition; and
- sufficient space at the bottom of each page for payment information required by AS 15.45.130;
- other specifications prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor.
Referendum booklets include:
- a copy of the Act to be referred (if 500 words or less);
- the statement of approval or rejection;
- an impartial summary of the subject matter of the act;
- a statement of minimum costs to the state associated with certification of the initiative application and review of the initiative petition, excluding legal costs to the state and the costs to the state of any challenge to the validity of the petition;
- an estimate of the cost to the state of voter approval or rejection of the act;
- a statement of warning as prescribed in AS 15.45.330;
sufficient space for the printed name, a numerical identifier, the signature, the date of signature, and the address of each person signing the petition;
- other specifications prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor.
Recall booklets include:
- the name and office of the person to be recalled;
- the statement of the grounds for recall included in the application;
- a statement of minimum costs to the state associated with certification of the recall application and review of the recall petition, and concduct of a special election, excluding legal costs to the state and the costs to the state of any challenge to the validity of the petition;
- an estimate of the cost to the state of recalling the official;
- the statement of warning as required in AS 15.45.570;
- sufficient space for the printed name, a numerical identifier, the signature, the date of signature, and the address of each person signing the petition;
- other specifications prescribed by the director to ensure proper handling and control.
- (b) Upon request of the recall committee, the lieutenant governor shall report to the committee the number of persons who voted in the preceding general election in the state or in the district of the official sought to be recalled by the recall committee.
Deadlines
The initiative language can be submitted to the state at any time. Once signatures are submitted, the Lieutenant Governor must review them within 60 days. If it is determined that enough valid signatures were collected, the initiative will be placed on the election ballot of the first statewide general, special or primary election that is held after the filing, a legislative session has convened or adjourned, and a period of 120 days has expired since the adjournment of a legislative session.
Number of signatures required
Signatures are tied to how many votes are cast for the general election prior to when the application is filed. In 2006, 234,645 (1) votes were cast. Ten percent of the votes cast must be collect, which would next election would be 23,646 signatures required. Signatures must be submitted prior to the convening of the legislative session in the year in which the initiative is to appear on the ballot. They are then verified by the Division of Elections who examine each signature until the minimum number needed is met.
See: Alaska signature requirements.
Special requirements
Distribution Requirement
Alaska has a distribution requirement. An older, less restrictive, distribution requirement was changed via a legislatively referred ballot measure placed on the November 2004 ballot by the Alaska State Legislature in 2004, the Distribution Requirement for Initiatives Act.
That initiative was approved with 51.7% of the vote. The older requirement was that initiatives must have petition signatures from at least one voter/signer in each of 2/3rds of Alaska's forty (40) state house districts, or 27 districts.
The newer requirement as passed in 2004 is that signers must be from at least 30 of the 40 house districts, an increase of 3.
Additionally, the 2004 change requires signatures from each of 30 districts to be at least equal to seven percent of the voters who voted in each of these districts in the last general election. The previous requirement was that at least one voter needed to sign from each of at least 27 districts.
Circulation period
Proponents have one year from the day that they are notified that petition booklets are available for distribution to collect the required signatures.
Single-subject restriction
Alaska has a single-subject rule.
Restrictions on circulators
Residency
- Main article: Residency requirements for petition circulators
Petitioners must be residents of the state. The specific requirement is:
"Qualified voters who sign the application are designated as sponsors, who may or may not circulate the petition. The initiative committe may designate additional circulators by giving their names and addresses in written notice to the Lieutenant Governor. [AS 15.45.060] If circulators designated by the initiative committee are not registered voters, they must sign a certificate of Alaska residency available from the Division of Elections."
Alaska is in the Ninth Circuit, which in 2008, struck down an Arizona residency requirement as unconstitutional in the case of Nader v. Brewer. Whether this federal decision would nullify the Alaska residency law as well is yet to be determined.
Age restrictions
Circulators must be 18 or older.
Compensation limits
Compensation for initiative circulators is limited to $1 per signature. Alaska is the only I&R state that sets a definite limit on how much a person can earn through collecting signatures.
Alaska State Representatives Kyle Johansen (R-Ketchikan) and Charisse Millett (R-Anchorage) introduced HB 36 in 2009 to make it illegal for initiative circulators to be paid on a per-signature basis. It would alos make it illegal for initiative circulators to circulate more than one initiative at once.[2]
Legislative tampering
The legislature can amend a citizen initiative at any time, but can only outright repeal a statute passed by initiative after two years have elapsed since the time it became law.
See also
- Laws governing petition circulators
- State ballot measure websites
- Residency requirements for petition circulators
- Single-subject rule
Related Alaska Law
External links
- Alaska I&R Process from the Alaskan government
- Alaska Initiative Application Form
- Initiative and Referendum Institute Alaska
- General Election Results
References
| |||||
