VOTERS JUST SAY NO TO INITIATIVES

Propositions On Drug Laws, Food Labels, Voter Registration Rejected

In state after state, voters shot down ambitious proposals that grass-roots
activists and reform movements had labored to place on the ballot. The
voters' mood, one expert said Wednesday, favored caution and the status
quo. Three states rejected proposals to relax drug laws; two defeated
Election Day voter registration. Oregon's often adventuresome voters turned
down chances to make their state the first with mandatory labeling of
genetically modified food and health insurance for all citizens.

Even in Berkeley, Calif., a longtime hotbed of political experimentation,
voters dumped cold water on a proposal that would have required local shops
to sell environmentally or socially correct coffee.

"Voters are being cautious because of what they're hearing from their
elected officials," said Dane Waters, president of the Initiative and
Referendum Institute. "They voted to maintain the status quo more than
anything else."

Of the 202 measures on statewide ballots Tuesday, 53 were placed there
through citizens' petition drives. Twenty-four of those initiatives
prevailed, but most of the high-profile measures lost.

Losers included three proposals backed by a national alliance of drug-law
reformers - a Nevada measure to legalize possession of up to 3 ounces of
marijuana, an Arizona initiative that would have likened pot possession to
a traffic violation, and an Ohio proposal that would have required judges
to order treatment instead of jail for many drug offenders.

In addition to drug reform, two other national efforts hit roadblocks.

Though six states already allow voters to register at the polls on Election
Day, residents of Colorado and California defeated measures to join that
group. In both states, opponents warned of voting fraud.

On the education front, Silicon Valley millionaire Ron Unz suffered his
first setback in his crusade to eliminate bilingual education. His proposal
to replace it with a one-year English immersion program triumphed in
Massachusetts and was defeated in Colorado.

Other citizen initiatives that failed Tuesday include measures to toughen
animal cruelty penalties in Arkansas, raise cigarette taxes in Missouri and
abolish the state income tax in Massachusetts.

Among the successful citizen initiatives were a ban on cockfighting in
Oklahoma and two measures in Florida - one to ban smoking in restaurants
and other workplaces, the second to limit class sizes in public schools.
Another education initiative - to spend $550 million annually on
after-school programs - won in California thanks to the patronage of actor
Arnold Schwarzenegger.