The first statewide initiative from Edwin and Joyce Koupal’s People’s Lobby to appear on the ballot, the Clean Environment Act, lost by a wide margin. The Koupal’s blamed much of its failure on the huge amount of money the oil and chemical industries were able to spend on the “No” campaign.

Edwin and Joyce Koupal and their People’s lobby technically “failed” three times in their efforts at California-wide direct democracy before passing their first successful ballot initiative, the Political Reform Initiative of 1974. Yet from each loss, the Koupals learned important lessons they applied to later efforts. One of the lessons they learned was the importance of keeping it simple.