60.9 percent of voters on Tuesday deciphered and rejected a convoluted ballot measure disguised as eminent domain reform.
“Proposition 98 sucker-punches us. It tantalizes us with something we like (”limits on government authority”). Then it scares us with words that make us uneasy (”eminent domain”). And then it flatters us that we don’t have to be old dudes in buckled shoes to be Founding Voters (”initiative constitutional amendment”),” opines Patt Morrison in the Los Angeles Times.
The initiative, bankrolled by landlord groups, would have ended rent control in California the morning after the election.
“The voters saw that Proposition 98 was a deceptive initiative — in fact, the worst kind of ballot abuse where a populist issue is used to conceal an attack on renters, the environment, homeowners and our communities,” said Tom Adams, board president of the California League of Conservation Voters.
Backers of the Prop. 98 also said that the language was confusing and appealed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who spoke out against the measure.
“By placing a second eminent domain measure on the ballot[Proposition 99], opponents of private property rights created enough confusion between the ballot measures to defeat Proposition 98,” said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
Prop. 99 “bars state and local governments from using eminent domain to acquire an owner-occupied residence, as defined, for conveyance to a private person or business entity.”
A vote for 99 was the only way to defeat 98. ” Proposition 99 was written so that it, and not 98, would take effect if both passed but Proposition 99 received more votes,” the LA Times says.
