[Peace-discuss] want to do some anti-war referenda this year...?

[Stuart Levy]

Yes!

I was just looking into this - Dave Powers had suggested a referendum on 
corporate personhood, and the OccupyCU group talked about this last night.

Requirements now seem to be 
(http://www.toi.org/documents/2011-2012Calendar.pdf) -
    - March 1st deadline to submit text to Twp clerk, with at least 15 
voters' signatures
    - Review by township board, which now screens all referenda
    - At (probably) April 10th annual meeting, passage by simple 
majority vote of electors

We talked about three possible approaches -
    - something on corporate personhood and/or money-as-speech,
    - something echoing the IL house bill HR0610, which supported free 
speech rights of Occupy protestors, and recognized the hardships on 
Illinoisans by Wall St. banks
    - a specific proposal granting free speech rights in public places, 
as provided in CA's constitution (more details elsewhere)

I'm guessing we might try to submit one or two of these.

On 1/2/12 10:28 PM, Robert Naiman wrote:
> recall that there was this mechanism in state law, that we used to put
> anti-war referenda on the ballot...
>
> ...and remember that they changed the law to make it more difficult...
>
> however, my recollection is that they did not make it impossible, just
> more difficult.
>
> my memory is that while it was formerly the case that you could add
> the referenda items to the agenda at the township meeting if you had a
> supermajority, they removed the provision that allowed you to do that.
> so, now you have to submit the proposals something like a month in
> advance.
>
> Now it is January, so if my memory is right, we can do this.
>
> Furthermore, if my memory is right, according to this procedure, there
> is no need for a supermajority, so we may actually find it easier to
> get things on the ballot in Champaign than we found it in the past.
>
> Assuming that my memory is correct, here are three ideas:
>
> - withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan within 1 year
> - no US military attack on Iran
> - cut projected military spending by $1 trillion over 10 years
>
> what do you think?
>