Editorial: Questions Data Queries

• INVESTIGATE: look at past initiative signature verifications…how many were accepted, how many thrown out? What's the rate of fraudulent, duplicate or invalid signatures in the CURRENT system? Would digital necessarily be worse/riskier than paper signatures?
• INVESTIGATE: who are the biggest repeat proponents behind many of our state's initiatives?
• ASK EXPERT/SoS: If a person wants to sign a petition in circulation, how do they connect with a signature gatherer?
• ASK EXPERT/SoS: What constitutes an invalid signature? HOW DOES A VOTER KNOW HIS OR HER SIGNATURE WILL COUNT? What kinds of mistakes are made and how do you detect fraud?
• ASK EXPERT/SoS: Is there an API or other official mechanism for grabbing data on initiatives?
• ASK EXPERT/SoS: Why hasn't digital signing been adopted in California?
• ASK EXPERT: What's the long-term success rate of initiatives — how often do courts reject them as unconstitutional? Pare them down/gut them (Prop 187)? How many have been overturned by subsequent initiatives? What's the breakdown by type of initiative (original/new laws, amending constitution, overturning other initiatives, etc)?
• TIMELINE? How many years has the system been in place, what are the major milestones/developments in its history
• QUERY: How many NON-CPAA written/backed initiatives have passed? How many initiatives bear their fingerprints? By extension, how powerful is this group really?