The Dangers of Voter Initiative By Rod Driver, May 1998 Voter initiative could lead to defective laws. Legislation requires careful examination by a deliberative legislative body to make sure everything is OK before it becomes law. Voter initiative is undemocratic. Laws could be passed by a minority of eligible voters.
Voter initiative is dangerous.
Special interests spending big money could influence the outcome of a referendum. Anyone who has not followed the General Assembly in detail might find these arguments convincing. I might have believed them myself 15 years ago. But I had wondered why bills in the General Assembly so often passed unanimously or almost unanimously. After taking my own seat as a representative in January 1987, I wondered no more.