Earlier this week, I highlighted the direct ballot initiative idea Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Neumann proposed as part of his “Strong Wisconsin Reform” plan, and at the time I noted the fact that while citizen-sponsored ballot initiatives and referenda certainly may seem like a good idea on the surface, the cost of putting those initiatives/referenda on a statewide ballot certainly had to be taken into consideration, given the state’s current budget problems. I cited the state of California as an example of how costly ballot initiatives can be, and yesterday came news Hawaii can’t afford to pay for a special election to replace a congressman who’s planning to step down next month to run for governor. Budget cuts have left the Hawaii Office of Elections with about $5,000 to last until July, and a special election will cost nearly $1 million, according to interim Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago. If a special election cannot be completed until July, roughly 600,000 urban Honolulu residents will be without representation in Congress until such time as an election can be held.
“Democracy depends on representation of the people,” Jean Aoki, legislative liaison for the Hawaii chapter of the League of Women Voters. “I can’t imagine the citizens of our state not wanting representation in the highest body in the land to make laws. It’s just unthinkable.”
Until the economy makes a full recovery, situations like what’s happening in Hawaii may become more common, underscoring the fact that many states – including Wisconsin – can ill afford to spend hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars to include citizen-sponsored ballot initiatives and referenda on their ballots.
Why is it the only time I hear a Democrat complaining about the government spending money is when the money is for actually running the democracy? 😉