9 Things You Don't Know About the 2010 Ballot

Almost 90 percent of the funding for an initiative to legalize medical marijuana in Arizona has been funded by two interconnected advocacy organizations 2,200 miles away in Washington DC: the Marijuana Policy Project and the Marijuana Policy Project Foundation. The two groups have spent over $570,000 to fund the campaign but spokesperson Mike Meeno of the Marijuana Policy Project said the group would not share the names of the people who donated the money for the initiative, "No, that's not information we typically divulge," he told CBS News. The Marijuana Policy Project lists a fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion on its 2009 tax filing that raised $159,700.

Who is Bankrolling the Ballot?

Proposition A Missouri

Proposition A in Missouri is self-financed by retired Missouri financier Rex Sinquefield who has poured over $10 million into the campaign. The initiative would allow voters to vote on whether or not to keep a 1% earnings tax in St. Louis and Kansas City and prevent a third local government from imposing a similar tax. Sinquefield's campaign paid the signature gathering firm National Petition Management over $570,000 to collect signatures to get the measure on the ballot according to state campaign filings.
Who is Bankrolling the Ballot?

Proposition 23 California

A group of out of state oil companies with business in California have spent at least $4.7 million to get a measure on the ballot that would repeal the state's new global warming law. Overall, almost 70 percent of the campaign's money has come from out of state including one random donation of $498,000 from the Missouri-based Adam Smith Foundation. The group's IRS forms show they were formed to "promote conservative principles and individual liberties in Missouri." The phone number on the tax filing rings to a gift shop in Jefferson City, Missouri where the owner says he has no connection to the foundation. The group reported total assets last year to be $109.39. Democratic lawmakers in California have called for a federal probe into the group. A call to Thomas Shupe, the foundation treasurer, was not returned.

Initiative 1107 Washington

The largest initiative campaign in Washington state is bankrolled by almost $17 million from the American Beverage Association in Washington DC. The group is trying to overturn a temporary tax on candy and soda that the state legislature imposed. While the beverage association has donated the most money, the Coca-Cola corporation is directly involved through the participation of one of their corporate vice presidents for public affairs according to campaign filings with the state.

Question 1 Maine

A campaign to open a casino about 70 miles north of Portland, Maine is largely bankrolled by local investors but campaign filings show over $180,000 - or almost half of the money raised- was donated to the campaign from out of state investors.

Proposition 19 California

The campaign to legalize marijuana in California has primarily been led and funded by relatively small amounts from local supporters. The total amount of money raised to pass the initiative has not even reached a million dollars according to California campaign records. However, two multi-millionaires recently weighed in. Facebook co-founders Sean Parker and Dustin Moskovitz respectively gave $100,000 and $50,000 in support of the initiative.

Initiative 1098 Washington

An initiative to impose a new tax on wealthy people in Washington state and reduce property taxes got a major boost when Bill Gates Sr. donated $500,000 to the campaign. Alongside Gates there has been $2 million coming from the union bank accounts of the Service Employees International Union and the National Education Association in Washington DC. The campaign has sparked a money war between wealthy Seattleites. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has given $100,000 to stop the initiative.

Initiative 1100 Washington State

Currently in Washington state liquor sales are run by the state. Seventy-seven percent of a ballot initiative to privatize liquor sales is financed by big box store Costco who has spent $4.8 million on the initiative. Costco is based in Issaquah, Washington.

Proposition B Missouri

Over $2.8 million of the funding supporting an initiative to crack down on what animal rights activists call "puppy mills" is coming from outside the state. In recent weeks money has been pouring into the Missouri campaign from New York and California with the largest chunk coming from the national office of The Humane Society of the United States based in Maryland.