SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — It was 100 years ago this week that California voters adopted the initiative, recall and referendum amid an era of ingrained political corruption.
They set in motion a series of reforms that would define California’s political landscape for the next century. Since then, the state that has seen pitched battles at the ballot box over property tax reforms, gay marriage, illegal immigration and recalling a governor.
The initiative process has become as quintessentially California as sunshine and opportunity, even if it has left a legacy of unintended consequences.
The state’s new governor, Hiram Johnson, put direct democracy on the ballot on Oct. 10, 1911, and voters approved the most expansive initiative and recall powers in the nation. One proposition gave women the right to vote.
