Author: Victoria Antram
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Campaign submits signatures in California for a ballot initiative to issue bonds for a homeownership loan program
California Coalition for Homeownership submitted over 900,000 signatures to county officials for verification for a ballot initiative that would issue $25 billion in revenue bonds to fund a homeownership loan program for households with incomes that do not exceed 200% of the area median income for families of similar size. The campaign is sponsored by…
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Reform California submits 1.3 million signatures for voter ID initiative
The organization Reform California announced on March 2 that it was submitting over 1.3 million signatures to county election officials for verification of an initiative that would require voter identification and a constitutional requirement for state and county election officials to verify citizenship of registered voters. The initiative would add a new section to the…
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Campaign behind California’s wealth tax initiative reports collecting 25% of the required signatures to qualify for 2026 ballot
Save California Health Care and Public Education, sponsored by SEIU-UHW, has collected at least 25% of the required signatures to qualify a combined initiated constitutional amendment and state statute known as the billionaire tax for the 2026 ballot. The total number required is 874,641, which is 8% of the votes cast in the prior gubernatorial…
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Campaign behind the initiative to require a two-thirds supermajority vote to enact local special taxes in California submits signatures after a prior proposal was blocked by state court in 2024
Protect Prop. 13, the campaign behind the initiative to require a two-thirds supermajority vote to enact citizen-initiated local special taxes in California, reported submitting over 1.3 million signatures to local county officials for verification on Feb. 25. The measure is an initiated constitutional amendment that would increase the vote threshold from a simple majority to…
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New Mexico voters will decide whether to allow school elections to be held at the same time as state or federal partisan elections
The New Mexico State Legislature voted to send an amendment to voters in November that would repeal the constitutional requirement that school elections be held at different times from partisan elections, allowing them to be held on the same dates as partisan elections, such as statewide and federal elections. The amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 1…
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Nebraska State Legislature alters second ballot initiative in two years; lowering the rate of increase for the state minimum wage enacted in 2022
Gov. Jim Pillen (R) signed Legislative Bill 258 (LB 258) on Feb. 10, enacting changes to a 2022 minimum wage initiative passed earlier in the month by the state legislature. The bill is the second time the state legislature has amended a ballot initiative in two years. Initiative 433 was approved by Nebraska voters in…
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Nebraska voters have decided on almost four times the number of legislatively referred measures (296) as citizen initiatives (80) since 1860
Since 1860, Nebraska voters have decided on 296 legislatively referred measures—nearly four times the number of citizen initiatives (80). Additionally, Nebraskans also decided on 48 constitutional convention referrals. Of the 424 total measures, 266 (63%) were approved, and 158 (37%) were defeated. Nebraska adopted the initiative process in 1912, with Amendment 1 approved by a…
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Texas Democratic and Republican Parties place non-binding advisory questions on the March primary ballot
The Democratic Party of Texas and the Republican Party of Texas placed non-binding advisory questions on March 3, 2026, primary ballots. Democratic ballots will feature 13 questions. Republican ballots will feature 10 questions. The Democratic and Republican primaries are open, meaning all voters can participate regardless of party affiliation. An advisory question is a type…
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OpenAI and Common Sense Media announce joint California ballot initiative to regulate use of AI chatbots by minors
OpenAI and Common Sense Media, which both previously filed separate ballot initiatives in California related to the use of AI chatbots by minors, announced on Jan. 9 that they had filed a joint ballot initiative. The campaign has titled the initiative the Parents & Kids Safe AI Act. The initiative would amend state law to…
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Oregon voters to decide on veto referendum to repeal a gas tax increase and other parts of transportation bill in November
A veto referendum targeting the repeal of parts of a recently passed transportation funding bill, including an increase in the state’s gas tax, qualified for the Nov. 3, 2026, ballot on Dec. 30. The Oregon secretary of state reported that 163,451 of the 191,828 signatures accepted for verification were valid—a signature validity rate of 85%.…