Word: referendum
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...prospects of same-sex marriage in California grew dimmer Thursday, when two Supreme Court justices who helped create the right for gays to marry in last year's historic decision expressed deep reservations about attempts to strike down a statewide referendum passed last fall to ban the practice. "You would have us choose between these two rights: the inalienable right to marry and the right of the people to change their constitution," said Justice Joyce L. Kennard, one of those two key judges. "You ask us to willy-nilly disregard the right of the people to change the constitution...
Thousands of Venezuelans residing in Florida cast ballots at their Miami consulate last month in a referendum on whether to abolish presidential term limits back home. Most voted "no," because the last thing they want is to see left-wing President Hugo Chávez run again when his second term expires in 2012. But two of the most emphatically anti-Chávez figures at the consulate weren't voters. They weren't even Venezuelan. They were some of South Florida's most prominent and outspoken Cuban-American politicians: Republican Representatives Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen...
...referendum promotional blitz only compounded the advantages Chávez typically enjoys. The president hosts a talk show for about five hours each Sunday broadcast on state media, addressing current events and showcasing copious on-location footage of Chávez’s social-welfare programs in action. In 2006, Chávez refused to renew the broadcasting license for Venezuela’s second largest TV station, which had voiced opposition to Chávez’s policies and may have endorsed a coup against Chávez in April 2002. There are also reports of Ch?...
...this election, Chávez has used the entire government apparatus to promote the referendum. Pro-Chávez propaganda adorned government vehicles and public buildings, while state radio and television channels promoted the referendum night and day. Passengers on the subway in the capital had to listen to campaign jingles during their commute...
...that the fact that Chávez’s earlier attempt to end term limits, which was bundled with a group of other minor constitutional changes, failed in a national referendum in late 2007, and a picture emerges of a Venezuelan dictator using a hollow patina of democracy to legitimize his aspirations to hold power for life. Since his victory, Chávez has already revealed his wish to remain in power until 2049, when, at 95, he would be older than his inspiration, Fidel Castro, is today. We’ll see if Venezuela?...