Direct Democracy for Me but Not for Thee
Though they don't have this right at the statewide level, residents of cities and counties in Georgia have a process to put questions on the ballot. 15% of qualified voters can sign a petition in a 60-day window and the question will be put to all voters. 15% is both high and low - it's only 1 out of 7 total voters while also being a number that's larger than turnout in many municipal elections, particularly primaries. As a state, we're generally on the democracy skeptic side - unlike California or other (mostly) Western states, we don't generally have citizen initiative or recalls. But we do have elections every two or four years. It's just the way we do things. Maybe you (or I) think we should do things more (or less) like California, but that's where we are.
To put it out there, if I disagree with a potential question, I don't support having a vote on it! Sorry, that's the rub. Democracy is not always better, and since we constantly have elections, the will of voters is eventually expressed even if I'm wrong. And though I don't live in the city of Atlanta, I disagree with the Stop Cop City movement, think it's pretty much 100% moronic and also believe it's bad politics for Democrats in Georgia generally. It's the same old wolf of Defund the Police wrapped temporarily in environmental sheep's clothing, and despite Defund repeatedly costing us politically (it almost certainly helped reduce House and Senate margins in 2020 and probably helped us lose the House in '22), many progressives who don't even privately agree with the issue can't resist the public siren call of being with the cool kids who have "energy" - whatever the hell that means or is worth (it's worth negative, but that's another story). So you see stuff like the Ga Sierra Club saying that police training is anti-black - excuse me...what???? Especially considering that the alternative is that Atlanta's police will be trained at a Republican state run facility that probably doesn't put diversity at the forefront - they don't even use bodycams!
That said, I always support the process and the process is you can turn in a petition and the city or county can verify that actually qualified people signed it. When Minneapolis did their "Re-imagine" referendum a few years (voters defeated it btw), petition gatherers turned in 25,000 signatures to meet a 12k threshold, and 55% were valid, putting them slightly over what they needed. No one said it was the new Jim Crow when Minneapolis verified signatures, California routinely verifies signatures, 5 candidates for Michigan Governor dropped out in 2022 when faced with accusations of signature fraud, the Democratic frontrunner for a special election in Rhode Island recently tanked her campaign by turning in signatures of dead people etc, yet groups like Fair Fight and others seem to have adopted a new position that any signature or list verification done in Atlanta is voter suppression.
Here's the problem: I doubt they'd feel the same way about a petition to have a vote for Buckhead, or a recall position to remove Fani Willis or other Democrats for office. I believe that they would be strong advocates for verifying that registered and qualified voters of Atlanta or Fulton County actually signed those petitions in the amount required by law. That's why this petition process and other potential ones in the future threaten to undo the Democratic process if we make arbitrary decisions now because it's our friends who turned in the petition. As an example, many of the districts we hold have vastly different electoral outcomes in a low turnout election vs a high turnout election. Imagine Republicans taking advantage of a recall petition "honor system" to force low turnout recall elections against minorities who won seats in high turnout general elections but might not fare as well in a low turnout election dominated by older, whiter voters. It wasn't a recall, but we temporarily lost a majority black state Senate seat in a special election a few years ago due to these turnout dynamics.
What would selectively bending the rules now because our allies are turning in a petition mean for the Democratic rights of some of our most vulnerable citizens later if the new process is subsequently abused by those we don't ally with?
Finally, back to my original point - some like Stacey Abrams have said even if the petition isn't successful, we should just have the vote because democracy is always better. Well, Minority Leader Stacey Abrams voted against putting Opportunity School District, JQC Reform, Income Tax Caps and State Charter Schools on the ballot. And you know what - I agree with her! Those were mostly bad ideas, the status quo was better, and people should preserve the status quo if it's better and that's what they were elected to do! If I lived in a state with pro-choice laws, I would neither sign a petition nor vote (if I were a legislator) to put "choice on the ballot". Isn't that obvious? Stacey Abrams as a legislator - mostly right about stuff. As a Governor candidate and post candidate and maybe future candidate, bending her principles for clout.
In summary, Stop Cop City is stupid. But if 15% of valid Atlanta voters feel strongly enough about it, we can have a vote where they'll probably lose. They are making a lot of noise because they need more than 50% of the petitions they turned in to be valid, and as the Minneapolis example shows, and as countless other efforts show, getting 50% is tough because instead of doing the hard work of door to door collection, most signature gatherers go to a festival or Beyonce concert or stand outside of a Kroger where tons of signers either don't live in the city, aren't registered to vote, or have already signed the petition before. But again, the standard in the law is 15% sign it, not how many sheets get turned in. The single worst thing you can do in politics is bend the rules when it benefits your side, because it won't always be your side that it benefits. The single best thing you can do is stand firm to your principles every time. Me? I'm a Rep. Stacey Abrams guy - stupid stuff doesn't deserve a vote just because it animates some people. If she stuck to her principles more often instead of chasing the cool kids, I might be a Gov. Abrams guy too.