Let's Go Down Referendum Memory Lane And Take A Deep Breath as We Head into the Most Critical Election in Our Lifetime Dunn County!!!
Digging Deeper of the Ins and Outs of Past Referendums/Vote November 5th to Save Our Republic!
I know I have been hearing from many of my Dunn County neighbors about many of the referendums that makes you scratch your head and say “Huh!” And it is a bummer that when they put the referendum on the ballot you only see the amended version and not the original amendment which can make it very sketchy, thus the head scratching. Since our state has been in referendum overdrive from the Mid-Term Election on November 4th, 2022 to the present, I have been going into the Wisconsin Constitution quite regularly. I prefer going right to the source instead of getting my information from news outlets, 3rd party non-profit organizations and even Ballotpedia. Yes, you got that right, Ballotpedia gave misinformation on both the original amendment and amended referendum on the upcoming General Election on November 5th, 2024. So whenever you want to compare an amended referendum to the actual original amendment in our Wisconsin Constitution you can find it here:
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/constitution/wi_unannotated This particular link has been extremely valuable when conducting research of referendums being placed on the ballot to make an informed decision. And isn’t that what it is all about. Making an informed decision before heading to the polls. It is better to be informed at the polls than confused. These days I have been stamping out on all the noise and doing my own research. We need to start trusting our own intuition and thought process, not the many loud voices of others.
So let’s do a rundown of the past referendums starting with the Mid-Term Election which took place on November 4th, 2024. This particular referendum was actually in the form of a survey to registered voters in Dunn County and throughout the state of whether voters were FOR federalizing health care or NOT federalizing health care. Here was the language in the referendum:
“Shall Congress and the President of the United States enact into law the creation of a publicly financed, non-profit, national health care insurance program that would fully cover medical care costs for all Americans?”
In Dunn County we had 9,050 Yes votes and 8,564 No votes. I searched high and low for the statewide results with no luck, probably because it was a survey type referendum verses an actual amended referendum. It is sad though Dunn County favored for a Federal Health Care Program. Especially after the Medical Industrial Complex and Federal Government forced the jab and masks unto the many, thinking we are a one size fits all society. NOT!!! This also tells me they succeeded getting the Democrats out to the polls. As we continue to go though the past referendums you will see a pattern.
Next up, we had three lovely referendums on the April 4th, 2023 Spring Election Ballot. Two of the referendum pertained to the conditions of release before conviction and cash bail before conviction. These two were amended referendums. Below is the original Amendment I posted in a previous blog in regards to referendum Question #1:
Wisconsin State Constitution Article I Section 8
(2) All persons, before conviction, shall be eligible for release under reasonable conditions designed to assure their appearance in court, protect members of the community from serious bodily harm or prevent the intimidation of witnesses. Monetary conditions of release may be imposed at or after the initial appearance only upon a finding that there is a reasonable basis to believe that the conditions are necessary to assure appearance in court. The legislature may authorize, by law, courts to revoke a person's release for a violation of a condition of release.
Now here is the actual question that was on the ballot:
State Referendum question 1: “Conditions of release before conviction. Shall section 8 (2) of Article 1 of the constitution be amended to allow a court to impose on an accused person being released before conviction conditions that are designed to protect the community from serious harm?”
Here is the current Article 1 Section 8 in our Wisconsin Constitution:
(2) All persons, before conviction, shall be eligible for release under reasonable conditions designed to assure their appearance in court, protect members of the community from serious harm as defined by the legislature by law, or prevent the intimidation of witnesses.
I find it interesting they decided to keep “members” in the amendment instead of omitting “members” as stated in the State Referendum question. But kept the word “Bodily” out of the equation as stated in the original amendment. And they added “as defined by the legislature by law” that was not in the referendum question.
Okay, let’s take a look on State Referendum question #2 as follows:
State Referendum question 2: “Cash bail before conviction. Shall section 8 (2) of article 1 of the constitution be amended to allow a court to impose cash bail on a person accused of a violent crime based on the totality of the circumstances, including the accused’s previous convictions for a violent crime, the probability that the accused will fail to appear, the need to protect the community from serious harm and prevent witness intimidation, and potential affirmative defenses?”
Here is the current Wisconsin Constitution Article I Section 8 (2)
“Monetary conditions of release may be imposed at or after the initial appearance only upon a finding that there is a reasonable basis to believe that the conditions are necessary to assure appearance in court, or if the person is accused of a violent crime as defined by the legislature by law, only upon finding that there is a reasonable basis to believe that the conditions are necessary based on the totality of the circumstances, taking into account whether the accused has a previous conviction for a violent crime as defined by the legislature by law, the probability that the accused will fail to appear in court, the need to protect members of the community from serious harm as defined by the legislature by law, the need to prevent the intimidation of witnesses, and the potential affirmative defenses of the accused. The legislature may authorize, by law, courts to revoke a person’s release for a violation of a condition of release.”
As you can see they used the word “Monetary”, a more sophisticated word for “cash bail” as mentioned in referendum question #2. All the rest align fairly well between what was stated in the amended referendum and plugged into the current constitution. Which means, both referendum #1 and #2 passed statewide. Question #1 had 66.6% in favor and #2 had 67.6% in favor of the referendum statewide. Dunn County were also in favor of the two referendums.
Referendum Question # 3 was the easy peasy one that also passed both in Dunn County and statewide. This referendum question stated as follows: “Shall able-bodied childless adults be required to look for work in order to receive taxpayer funded welfare benefits?” This type of question was more like getting a public opinion on the topic.
Alright! We are now entering into the election cycles of 2024 in referendum land. First one was the February 20th, 2024 Spring Primary Election Ballot. This was the SDMA Reoccurring Operating Referendum which when to the tune of: “Shall the School District of Menomonie Area, Dunn and St. Croix Counties, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in section 121.91, Wisconsin Statues, by $4,200,000 beginning with the 2024-2025 School Year for recurring purposes consisting of operational expenses?” Here were the results of SDMA referendum votes in the SDMA School District; 1891 were “Yes” votes verses 2768 votes were “No” votes. So this referendum was a no go. I believe the word “Reoccurring” did not sit well to the taxpayers in the SDMA School District.
Moving along into the April 2nd, 2024 Spring Election Ballot we had two referendum questions in regards to use of private funds in elections and only Election Officials to perform tasks in elections. And one referendum in regards to Boyceville School District $18,000,000 General Obligation Bond Referendum.
Here is Referendum question #1 as follows:
“Shall section 7 (1) of article III of the constitution be created to provide that private donations and grants may not be applied for, accepted, expended, or used in connection with the conduct of any primary, election or referendum?”
Referendum question #1 passed statewide as well as in Dunn County and now is in our current Wisconsin Constitution as follows:
Article III Section 7 (1) [As created April 2024] (1) No state agency or officer or employee in state government and no political subdivision of the state or officer or employee of a political subdivision may apply for, accept, expend or use any moneys or equipment in connection with the conduct of any primary, election, or referendum if the moneys or equipment are donated or granted by an individual or nongovernmental entity.
For this referendum it was an addition to the Wisconsin Constitution in Article III and not an amended amendment. As you can see for this particular new amendment based off of the referendum question, they added some content to emphasize that no state agency nor political subdivision may apply, accept, expend or use any moneys or equipment in connection with the conduct of any primary, election, or referendum if the moneys or equipment are given (donated or granted) by NGO’s or individuals.
Referendum question #2 was also an addition to Article III and passed both in Dunn County and Statewide. Here is Referendum question #2 as follows:
“Shall section 7 (2) of article III of the constitution be created to provide that only election officials designated by law may perform tasks in the conduct of primaries, elections, and referendums?”
Here is the current language in the Wisconsin Constitution as follows:
Article III Section 7 (2) No individual other than an election official designated by law may perform any task in the conduct of any primary, election or referendum. [2021 J.R. 17, 2023 J.R. 10, vote April 2024]
The content was changed slightly in which they used “No individual other than an election official” verses “only election officials” that was used in the referendum. They also added the “any” for any tasks in the conduct of any primaries…
Last referendum that was on the April 2nd, 2024 Spring Election Ballot was the Boyceville School District General Obligation Bond Referendum in the amount of $18,000,000. This referendum passed in the Boyceville School District with 725 votes in favor of the referendum and 430 votes opposed to the referendum.
We are now going to be looking into the August 13th, 2024 Partisan Primary Election Referendums. We had two referendums that was presented statewide in regards to delegation of appropriation power and allocation of federal moneys.
Here is the first referendum question as follows:
State of Wisconsin - Delegation of Appropriation Power; “Shall section 35 (1) of article IV of the constitution be created to provide that the legislature may not delegate its sole power to determine how moneys shall be appropriated?”
This basically is saying that the legislature should not give away their authority to appointed agencies nor one individual to determine how moneys (like ARPA) shall be appropriated.
Than we have the second referendum question as follows:
State of Wisconsin - Allocation of Federal Moneys Referendum; “Shall section 35 (2) of article IV of the constitution be created to prohibit the governor from allocating any federal moneys the governor accepts on behalf of the state without approval of the legislature by joint resolution or as provided by legislative rule?”
Here again, this referendum was to keep our checks and balances in place by having the legislative body approve the allocation of federal money verses just going to one individual not really knowing where he will allocate the funds. Unfortunately, both referendums were rejected statewide. These two referendums would of been added to our Wisconsin Constitution in Article IV.
If you want to take a deep dive on the referendum to be featured in the upcoming November 5th, 2024 General Election ballot, please look at my previous post on September 24th, 2024 for further insight.
Looking at these past referendums makes me wonder about the tweaking here and there especially for the new amendments that they bring to the voters to accept or reject. Personally, I feel if they are asking for the approval of a new amendment language and the same goes for an amended amendment language it should be put into the Wisconsin Constitution as written in the referendum when approved by Wisconsin voters. And of course, many of these referendums are used to rally either Democrats or Republicans to the polls as a strategy to gain an advantage in numbers for a given election cycle. Which to me is quite sad. It is our sacred duty to vote as Americans. We shouldn’t have to be enticed to go vote based on a referendum that fits a narrative of the day.
On November 5th, 2024 we should be voting like our life truly depends on it!!! Here are some things to ponder on as you go to the polls to make your voice be heard. Do you want Tyranny or Freedom. A Country with Secure Borders or Open Borders meaning NO COUNTRY!!!!! For Prosperity or Poverty. To preserve our U.S. Constitution, Bill of Right and Declaration of Independence or be subjects to a one world global government that will enslave us, our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Yes, the stakes are very high. So please Pray then VOTE, because all of our lives are on the line.
From One Dunn County Neighbor to Another - Pray for this One Nation Under God! Indivisible with Liberty and Justice for All!
Laurie J Christianson