U.S. Ballot Initiatives Cover Gig Work, Recreational Marijuana -- and Much More

By Jacob Gershman 

Should Uber drivers be treated as employees? Should people be free to smoke marijuana? Is the wolf a friend or foe?

These are among the many questions voters will be deciding by public referendum this week along with who should occupy the White House and control Congress.

Citizens, advocacy groups and lawmakers this election year have put more than 100 measures on the ballots of 34 states, according to Ballotpedia. Proposed changes to state constitutions and laws touch on a range of topical issues, from abortion and voter eligibility to drug legalization and prison slavery.

As usual, some of the most consequential and controversial policy debates are before California voters.

The heavyweight among them is Proposition 22, a ballot measure on whether Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc. and DoorDash Inc. and other gig-economy companies should be exempted from a new state law that entitled their drivers to stronger employee protections and costlier benefits such as overtime pay and paid sick leave. The gig giants have spent around $200 million -- a record sum for a California ballot initiative -- campaigning for the measure, far outspending labor unions opposing it.

California voters are also deciding whether to allow more local governments to establish stricter rent controls over some older residential properties. Republicans and real-estate interests have urged voters to reject the measure, as has Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, while other state Democrats are in favor.

California voters are also weighing several criminal-justice changes. Proposition 20 would expand the list of violent offenses disqualifying an inmate from early parole opportunities, more harshly punish serial shoplifters and expand DNA collection for theft and drug crimes.

Law-enforcement groups advocating for the changes say they are intended to close loopholes in recently enacted criminal-justice laws that they blame for rising crime. The ACLU of Northern California and other groups opposing Proposition 20 say the measure would lead to rising rates of incarceration.

Elsewhere, at least two measures deal with abortion. A Louisiana proposal would amend the state's constitution to make clear that no such right to the procedure is recognized. Should a more solidly conservative U.S. Supreme Court give states more authority to regulate abortion, Louisiana state courts would have less ability to strike down antiabortion laws.

A Colorado measure would make it a misdemeanor to perform abortions after the gestational age of the fetus is at least 22 weeks, with safety exceptions. Seventeen other states restrict abortions at the same point in pregnancy, according to the abortion research group Guttmacher Institute. Colorado is among a handful that lack any law linking fetal age to restrictions.

The legalization of recreational marijuana is on the ballot in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota. Currently, 11 states and the District of Columbia have made it legal for adults to possess limited amounts for personal use.

Oregon, among those 11 states, could push drug legalization further. A proposal would direct the Oregon Health Authority to regulate the manufacture, delivery, purchase and consumption of psilocybin, the psychoactive component in "magic mushrooms," for mental-health treatment. Several cities have already decriminalized psilocybin and other psychedelic plants.

Colorado voters are deciding whether to release gray wolves into the state's western wildlands, where the predator once roamed before it was largely exterminated more than 70 years ago. Their numbers have returned to about 6,000, and they are no longer endangered in the continental U.S., but they remain rare in Colorado.

Supporters say reintroducing wolves to Colorado would restore balance to an ecosystem strained by more than 700,000 deer and elk. Ranchers and farmers say they fear for their livestock, forming a "Stop the Wolf" coalition with hunting associations.

Suffrage is on the ballot in Alabama, Colorado and Florida, where voters are weighing whether to restrict the right to vote to only U.S. citizens. Currently, Arizona and North Dakota are the only states with constitutions that exclude noncitizens from the polls.

Florida is also deciding whether to switch to an open primary system. A single primary contest for each office would be open to all registered voters. The top two vote-getters would advance to a general election, regardless of political party.

In the state of Washington, sex education is on the ballot. Voters are deciding whether to repeal a new law requiring public schools to provide "age-appropriate" comprehensive sexual-health education to public-school students in all grades.

Write to Jacob Gershman at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 02, 2020 08:32 ET (13:32 GMT)

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