Act, Section 3-O

Clearly, it is in the best interests of the citizenry not to allow anonymity of those who push hardest for or against an initiative. Knowledge of the identities of the individuals who vigorously support or oppose an initiative, in and of itself, can also be useful to a voter in determining his or her own views on the issue. Therefore, those who are responsible for a promotional communication, however it may be conveyed to the public, must identify themselves within that communication. The Electoral Trust will promulgate regulations specifying how this required information will be incorporated in promotional communications.

This provision would outlaw anonymous speech.

Jacob, 2002, p. 6

That is correct; the National Initiative outlaws anonymous speech. In California, "tobacco companies nearly succeeded in passing Proposition 188 by presenting it as a pro-health measure that would prevent children from obtaining cigarettes and provide protection against secondhand smoke. Public health groups defeated it by highlighting tobacco industry backing" (Macdonald, Aguinaga, & Glantz, 1997).

... other court rulings have determined that the anonymous distribution of election information is permissible when a danger of harassment may be demonstrated by the proponents of the speech, such as members of the Socialist Workers Party.

Stern & Holman, 2002, p. 8

Experience with initiative elections suggest that it is prudent to error on the side of prohibiting anonymous communication. For exception from this requirement, individuals may appeal to the court.

... it will be a burden to list all the contributors. It would be better to list the top two or three.

Media editorials should be excluded from this requirement.

Stern & Holman, 2002, p. 8

Requiring extensive labeling of communications will either disrupt the ability of proponents and opponents to express a message or will be reduced to a small label that is conveniently ignored by the public.

Jacob, 2002, p. 6

The Electoral Trust shall specify how the persons responsible for a communication are identified. To require disclosure of the top 2-3 contributors and a link to the full list is a policy which could be adopted.