Voters in Five States Approve Ballot Measures to Protect Fundamental Freedoms

PHOENIX – Voters in five states have embraced new protections of liberty based on the ground-breaking research of the Goldwater Institute. These new laws will defend individual health care choices and the right to vote by secret ballot in union organizing elections, stop taxpayer giveaways and protect private property.

“The Goldwater Institute strives to develop practical responses to the challenges of our time that will restore America’s founding principles,” said Darcy Olsen, president and CEO of the Goldwater Institute. “It’s gratifying to see a strong majority of voters sharing this commitment to freedom and putting the brakes on governments that have been out of control for too long.”

Two amendments to state constitutions drafted by Goldwater Institute passed in multiple states:

• Arizona and Oklahoma approved the Health Care Freedom Act. This measure gives every person the right to decide whether or not to participate in a government-directed health care plan. The same measure was approved by Missouri voters in August 2010 and has been included by five other states in their legal statutes. This law forms the basis of several legal challenges to the federal health care law, including one filed by the Goldwater Institute.
• Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah adopted a measure called Save Our Secret Ballot. This measure guarantees workers the right to a secret-ballot vote in union-organizing elections.

In addition, Scottsdale, Ariz., voters approved two reforms to the city charter that were based on the blueprint offered in the Goldwater Institute’s Local Liberty Charter. Proposition 411 guarantees Scottsdale can use eminent domain on private property only for a genuine public purpose and can take only the property the city clearly needs. Proposition 412 strictly forbids tax subsidies of individual retail projects or favored business interests.

The Goldwater Institute is an independent government watchdog that develops innovative, principled solutions to issues facing the states and enforces constitutional limited government through litigation. The Institute’s work is made possible by the generosity of its supporters. To learn more, visit 34.206.30.86.