Connerly Initiatives
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| Oklahoma | Initiatives Generally | National News |
The Kirwan Institute is working together with national and state organizations to defeat the Ward Connerly initiatives that are designed to eliminate affirmative action. The same ballot initiative has already been passed in three states (California, Washington, and Michigan), amending the state constitutions and eliminating affirmative action, with devastating consequences. Connerly and his supporters have targeted four more states where they will attempt to pass the constitutional amendment as a ballot initiative in 2008 -- Arizona, Colorado, and Nebraska.
Connerly and his supporters also initially targeted Oklahoma and Missouri. In Oklahoma, the Connerly-backed effort collected and submitted signatures to the Oklahoma Secretary of State. After the Secretary found an unprecedented number of duplicate signatures and irregularities, and the ACLU and NAACP filed a challenge to the signature count and protest to the petition, Connerly and his supporters withdrew their initiative from consideration on April 4, 2008. In Missouri, Connerly’s supporters had trouble gathering the required number of signatures to place the initiative on the ballot, due in large part to the efforts of a grassroots coalition conducting a decline to sign campaign. Connerly’s initiative failed to submit signatures before the May 4, 2008 deadline, keeping the initiative from being placed on the ballot. The successful efforts in both states are significant victories for supporters of affirmative action!
These web pages provide information on each state’s campaign to defeat the Connerly initiative, as well as information on the initiatives generally.
