Category: Ballot measures
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Arkansas medical marijuana initiative found not to meet signature threshold, leaving 57 citizen-initiated measures for 2024
The last ballot initiative pending signature verification for the election on Nov. 5, 2024—Arkansas Issue 3—failed to make the ballot, according to Secretary of State John Thurston. The total number of statewide ballot measures certified for elections in 2024 is 160. Several measures are facing litigation, which could result in them being voided before the…
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Roundup of state Medicaid work requirement legislation and ballot measures in 2024
Legislatures in two states — Kansas and Mississippi — considered but did not pass bills to expand Medicaid in 2024. Both bills would have included work requirements. Voters in one state — South Dakota — will decide a ballot measure to allow Medicaid work requirements on November 5. Background Ten states have not expanded Medicaid…
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Right-to-abortion ballot measure campaigns reported 10 times more in contributions than opposition campaigns in 2024 so far
Voters in ten states—Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Nevada, and South Dakota—will decide on 11 abortion-related ballot measures in Nov. 2024. This is the most on record for a single year. Ten of these measures would provide for a state constitutional right to abortion, while one measure would place a constitutional…
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Over the past decade, courts have disqualified 16 state ballot measures after certification, including two this year
After a ballot measure is certified to appear before voters, state courts can still invalidate the measure for various reasons, even after officials have printed the ballots. Lawsuits against ballot measures are common and often result in several being disqualified after certification during each election cycle. Since 2014, state courts removed or disqualified 16 state…
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Voters in Juneau, Alaska, to decide on initiative banning cruise ships on Saturdays and July 4
Voters in Juneau, Alaska, will decide on three ballot measures on Oct. 1, including two bond measures and an initiative that would ban cruise ships in the city on Saturdays. Proposition 2, an initiative sponsored by Ship-Free Saturdays, would ban cruise ships with 250 passengers or more from docking, mooring, or disembarking passengers in Juneau…
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Signature-gathering periods for initiatives vary by state: from 90 days to no limit
When proponents of a citizen-initiated ballot measure collect signatures to verify the measure for the ballot, each state has a time frame for when proponents can collect signatures. This time frame is known as a circulation period, or the length of the signature-gathering period. The length of the circulation period varies between the 26 states…
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Ten state ballot measures related to property taxes on November ballot
Ten ballot measures concerning property taxes are on the ballot in eight states in 2024. Nine of the measures will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot, while one, in Louisiana, will be decided on in December. All ten measures were referred to the ballot by the states’ legislatures. During even-numbered years since 2014, there were…
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Thirteen states feature a higher-than-average number of ballot initiatives in 2024, leading to the most initiated measures since 2016
Of the 26 states that allow for citizen-initiated ballot measures, 18 states will feature citizen initiatives on the ballot this year. Thirteen of these states had a higher-than-average number of initiatives certified for their respective statewide ballots this year as compared to even-year election cycles between 2010 and 2022. A total of 931 ballot initiatives…
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Wisconsin voters defeat two ballot measures related to nondelegation
What’s the story? Voters in Wisconsin defeated two constitutional amendments on August 13 related to state appropriations authority. The ballot measures proposed strengthening the state’s nondelegation doctrine—an administrative law principle that limits lawmakers’ ability to delegate legislative powers to executive agencies. The measures’ opponents argued the legislature would slow the distribution of federal funds if…
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Update on 2024 state ballot measure certifications: three certifications in Nebraska, one last initiative in Arkansas pending signature verification
For 2024, 160 statewide ballot measures have been certified for the ballot in 41 states, which is two above the average (158) for this point in the election cycle from 2012 to 2022. The average number of statewide ballot measures certified for an even-numbered year during this period was 157. The final average, 157, is…