Word: referenda
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...nuclear arms race never became a major issue in most campaigns, but many Americans had the chance to register their feelings in statewide referenda. Ballots in nine states included nonbinding questions asking voters either whether they supported a moratorium on the production of nuclear weaponry, or whether they backed a mutually verifiable nuclear freeze. In eight of the nine states, voters said "yes"--including the Bay State, which logged in with nearly 70 percent of voters in favor of a moratorium. The nine simultaneous referenda together constitute the closest thing to a national referendum in American history, and as such...
...referenda issues. Massachusetts voters decisively supported a nuclear weapons moratorium, endorsed controls on radioactive waste, made capital punishment constitutional and approved the state's bottle bill. They rejected a referendum calling for state aid to private schools...
Most commonly, the anti-militarism movement is simply denied serious coverage. One Boston television station on election night repeatedly announced it was about to review the results of various state referenda, and then gave updated information on every question but the one calling for a nuclear weapons freeze. On national TV the morning after elections a freeze question organizer was interviewed lot about two minutes toward the end of the CBS Morning News show. Although 25 percent of American voters took part in the closest thing the U.S. has ever had to a national referendum the night before...
...referenda questions and their prospects...
...Similar referenda are on the ballot in eight other states and the District of Columbia. They pit those who say a "freeze" would hurt the United States' deterrence capabilities versus those who believe the arms race is too dangerous and that both nations already possess more than enough weaponry to ensure national security. Of the five questions on the ballot, this the most likely to pass--polls show support at greater than 60 percent...