Subscribe to the blog by RSSArizonans Protect Animals and Voting Rights
California's Proposition 2 and Massachusetts' Question 3 were not the only victories for animals tonight on statewide ballot measures. Arizonans soundly rejected Proposition 105, which would have made it nearly impossible to pass any future ballot initiative dealing with animal protection.
If Prop 105 had passed, any new ballot initiative would have needed a majority of all the registered voters in the state, whether they choose to show up at the polls or not, rather than a majority of the people who vote. No candidate has to meet that standard, and it's a nearly impossible standard to meet. Counting people who don't vote as automatic NO votes would have been a de facto ban on the ballot initiative process.
With nearly all the votes counted, Prop 105 went down in flames by a vote of 66% to 34%. Thanks to the people of Arizona for once again protecting their right to direct democracy, and rejecting this power grab by special interests and corporate lobbyists.
Michael Markarian is the president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund, a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization that lobbies for animal welfare legislation and works to elect humane-minded candidates to public office. In almost 15 years in the animal protection movement, Markarian has worked for the passage of countless state laws and federal statutes to protect animals, in addition to helping defeat some of the strongest anti-animal welfare politicians in the United States. 
