Since 1898, voters in 30 states have decided on 42 constitutional amendments to create state initiative and referendum processes


Welcome to the Wednesday, Feb. 5, Brew. 

By: Briana Ryan

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Since 1898, voters in 30 states have decided on 42 constitutional amendments to create state initiative and referendum processes
  2. A recap of President Donald Trump’s second week of his second term in office
  3. A comprehensive look at all ballot measures in Oklahoma from 1907 to 2024

Since 1898, voters in 30 states have decided on 42 constitutional amendments to create state initiative and referendum processes

Since 1898, voters in 30 states have decided on 42 constitutional amendments to create state initiative and referendum (I&R) processes. Today, we’ll explore the history around these processes—what they are, which states have them, and why they exist.

First off, let’s review how these processes work.

The initiative process allows citizens to propose statutes or amendments—depending on the state—and collect signatures to place their proposals on the ballot for voters to decide. Additionally, some states have an indirect process in which legislatures can approve the proposals outright. A referendum asks voters whether to uphold or repeal an enacted law.

Twenty-six states have at least one type of citizen initiative at the state level. Washington, D.C., also has an initiative and referendum process.

The history of initiative and referendum processes

In 1898, South Dakota became the first state to adopt initiative and referendum processes. From 1898 to 1918, voters in 22 states also adopted amendments creating those processes in their states. Most of these amendments originated during the progressive and populist movements of the 1890s to the 1920s. 

According to the Initiative & Referendum Institute, during that period, citizens began seeking political reforms: “The cornerstone of their reform package was the establishment of the initiative process for they knew that without it many of the reforms they wanted—that were being blocked by state legislatures—would not be possible.”

After 1918, no amendments establishing initiative or referendum processes were on the ballot until 1956. That year, Alaska voters approved the new constitution, which later took effect when the state was granted statehood in 1959. That constitution included provisions for both processes. 

From the 1960s to the 1980s, six amendments creating initiative and referendum processes were on the ballot. In 1992, Mississippi became the most recent state to pass an amendment for an initiative process. Since then, no amendments have been on the ballot to establish initiative or referendum processes.

Here are some interesting examples of how states have voted on initiative and referendum processes:

  • Nebraska Amendment 1 in 1912 had the widest winning margin for an amendment with 85.02 percentage points (92.51% to 7.49%). Wisconsin Question 2 in 1914 had the widest losing margin for an amendment with 27.24 percentage points (63.62.% to 36.38%)
  • Massachusetts Question 1 in 1918 had the narrowest winning margin for an amendment with 2.56 percentage points (51.28% to 48.72%). Texas Proposition 1 of 1914 had the narrowest losing margin for an amendment with 3.42 percentage points (48.29% to 51.71%).
  • In Minnesota, voters defeated amendments in three elections: 1914, 1916, and 1980.
  • Voters in Minnesota, Rhode Island, Texas, and Wisconsin considered such amendments, but none were approved. 
  • Voters in Mississippi, Missouri, and Wyoming initially rejected such amendments before approving them on second attempts.

Click the link below to learn more about the initiative and referendum processes. You can also click here to check out a past episode of our weekly podcast, On the Ballot. In that episode, host and Ballotpedia editor-in-chief Geoff Pallay interviewed four ballot measure experts on the history of citizen initiatives.

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A recap of President Donald Trump’s second week of his second term in office

A little over two weeks ago, President Donald Trump (R) was sworn in for a second term in office. In the Jan. 28 Daily Brew, we told you about what happened in his first week in office. Today, we’ll give you a rundown of what’s happened since our last update.

Executive orders

As of Feb. 2, Trump has issued 14 executive orders. That brings Trump’s total number of executive orders to 47. That’s more than the previous four presidents.

Trump issued three of those 14 executive orders on Feb. 1. Those executive orders tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China. Trump issued those executive orders using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA). According to the Congressional Research Service, the law “provides the President broad authority to regulate a variety of economic transactions following a declaration of national emergency.”

However, on Feb. 3, Trump delayed the start date of those tariffs from Feb. 4 to March 4. For a comprehensive look at Trump’s executive orders in his second term, click here.

Cabinet confirmations

Since our last update, the U.S. Senate confirmed six of Trump’s main 15 Cabinet nominees. These confirmations bring Trump’s total number of confirmed Cabinet nominees to 10. These are the Cabinet nominees that the U.S. Senate has confirmed since our last update:

The U.S. Senate is confirming Trump’s main 15 Cabinet nominees at a faster rate than they did in the previous two administrations in 2017 and 2021, respectively. However, they are confirming those nominees at a slower rate than they did for President Barack Obama’s (D) nominees in 2009.

Click here for a closer look at the confirmation process for Trump’s Cabinet nominees. You can also check out our in-depth resources regarding Trump’s second term in office at the link below.

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A comprehensive look at all ballot measures in Oklahoma from 1907 to 2024 

We told you above about the history of the I&R processes—now let’s look at one of the states from our Historical Ballot Measure Factbook. This ongoing research effort will document nearly 200 years of direct democracy in the U.S. In doing so, we will provide an unparalleled resource for researchers, reporters, and the public on how ballot measures have evolved, the issues they have covered, and their role in our civic life.

We introduced this project last summer when we featured Texas’ historical ballot measures and gave Daily Brew readers a sneak peek at what to expect as we expand our Factbook to all 50 states. In the Jan. 9 Daily Brew, we told you about California’s historical ballot measures. Today, we’re looking at historical ballot measures in Oklahoma.

Our comprehensive inventory of all Oklahoma ballot measures spans from 1907—the year the state adopted its constitution—to 2024. During that time, Oklahoma voters decided on 454 measures, approving 232 (51.1%) and defeating 222 (48.9%).

The chart below shows the total number of measures that voters decided in each decade. Between the 1900s and 2020s, voters decided on an average of 35 each decade.

Measures that the Legislature put on the ballot had a higher success rate than citizen initiatives. Legislatively-referred measures were approved 58% of the time, compared to 32% for citizen initiatives.

Ballot measure topics in Oklahoma

Oklahoma measures have addressed 62 different topics, with some addressing multiple topics in one measure. The chart below shows the ten most common measure topics.

Here is a selection of important and interesting measures from the Factbook:

Ballot measure margins of victory

Voters decided on nine measures by margins of less than one percentage point. The measure with the closest margin was State Question 392 in 1960. The measure allowed a recurring additional tax levy of 1 to 2 mills on taxable property for public library purposes in counties based on population size. Voters approved the measure by a margin of 0.27 percentage points (50.14% to 49.86%).

The measure with the widest margin of victory was State Question 674 in 1996. The measure established and protected the rights of crime victims and their families, including the rights to information, presence at proceedings, notification of defendant status, and the opportunity to be heard. Voters approved the measure by a margin of 82.35 percentage points (91.18% to 8.82%).

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