CAlComUI Web Site Can Help Track Ballot Measures

As of January 3, 2012, it is technically possible that as many as 75 ballot measures could be on the November, 2012 ballot. Many won’t qualify, but, California Communities United Institute has added a page to its web site to help you keep track of them all.

Proposed ballot measures in California must go through the following three step process to get on the ballot.

1.    Supporters of the measure must submit it to the California Attorney General who puts it into proper legal wording.

2.    Supporters are then given a certain number of months to gather petition signatures of registered California voters in support of the measure. If the measure would amend the state constitution they must gather more signatures, and have a longer time to gather them. Fewer signatures are required for measures that merely establish or change a law. If they fail to gather the signatures, within the time limit, the measure dies without going to the ballot.

3. Supporters of the measure submit their petitions to the Secretary of State whose staff verifies a representative number of signatures to see if they are actually registered California voters. If they are, the measure is approved for inclusion on a general election ballot. In 2012 that would be either the June ballot or the November ballot.


You can find out what these ballot measures are all about. (One of them seeks to overturn Proposition 8). You can also track their progress through the approval process.

The Secretary of State keeps 5 lists of the ballot measures that you can use to track the progress of these measures. You can see links to those lists by directing your browser to the following address and then clicking on “CA Ballot Measures” on the left side of the resulting page. Here is the address to get you started: http://www.calcomui.org