Los Angeles Times

Editorial: Not everything should go to the ballot. Lawmakers, do your job

Above, trash that piled up after heavy rain fell in Southern California in 2015..

November elections often leave California voters contending with too much of a good thing: a heap of propositions that clutter the ballot. Remember 2016, when the ballot had 17 measures, including two on the death penalty and another two on plastic bags?

On the one hand, Californians love direct democracy — the power to make laws through citizen initiatives, rather than by elected lawmakers. Most voters believe they make better decisions than the Legislature.

On the other, many Californians look at the raft of confusing questions that hit the ballot because of niche industry fights (regulating dialysis clinics? rest

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