UrbAn Referen Dum

NycGov details

Over the years the (New York State) legislature proved willing to allow limited I&R in local jurisdictions, but never at the statewide level. The most important such I&R provision is the section of the New York City charter that allows voters to propose a charter amendment by petition of 50,000 registered voters, about 2 percent of the city's voters. It was last successfully used in 1966 when police officers petitioned for - and voters approved - an amendment giving the police more control over the [Civilian Review Board] that had been set up to investigate citizens' complaints about the police. New Yorkers petitioned in the late 1960s for an anti-Vietnam War initiative and, in 1985, for an initiative to prohibit harboring ships with nuclear weapons, but state courts ruled against ballot placement on the ground that these were not proper subjects to go into the [City Charter].

[Charter Review Commission] http://www.nyc.gov/html/charter/html/home/home.shtml

• includes link to the [City Charter]

Aug'2005 release - Completing a year of work, the 2005 New York City Charter Revision Commission voted unanimously, on Tuesday, August 2, 2005 to approve placing two questions on the ballot for voters to consider on Election Day, November 2005.

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