Category: Ballot measures

  There are no statewide offices on the ballot in Texas this November, but there are 10 state constitutional amendments. The editorial boards of the state’s five largest newspapers gave unanimous endorsements to five of the constitutional amendments and were divided on the remaining amendments. According to Statista, the state-based newspapers with the largest circulation…

There were 36 state ballot measures certified in eight states to appear on 2019 ballots. As of October 25, 2019, Ballotpedia had tracked $21.6 million in contributions to the ballot measure campaigns supporting and opposing eight of those measures. This figure included both cash contributions as well as in-kind goods and services. Support campaigns raised…

Proponents of Oklahoma State Question 802—an initiative to expand Medicaid in Oklahoma–reported submitting 313,000 signatures on October 24, 2019, to qualify the measure for the 2020 ballot. Oklahomans Decide Healthcare needs a total of 177,958 valid signatures to qualify its measure for the ballot. The Secretary of State’s office is set to begin a physical…

In November, Pennsylvania will be the 13th state to vote on Marsy’s Law, an amendment to add crime victims’ rights to the state constitution. The ballot measure would create 15 constitutional rights for crime victims.   Lorraine Haw, along with the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania (LWV), filed litigation to invalidate the ballot measure…

On October 17, 2019, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap announced that the campaign Mainers for Health and Parental Rights filed enough signatures for a veto referendum on whether religious and philosophical exemptions from vaccination requirements should be eliminated. The referendum will be on the ballot for the election on March 3, 2020, which will also…

One measure is currently certified to appear on the Florida 2020 ballot. Proponents of six measures have collected enough signatures (76,632) to trigger ballot language reviews. Proponents of the $15 Minimum Wage Initiative are about 5,000 signatures away from the 766,200 total required signatures, but also need to meet the state’s distribution requirement.   On…

On Oct. 7, Governor Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed a bill that would have banned paying ballot initiative signature petition circulators according to the number of signatures they collect, a method called pay-per-signature. Newsom’s two immediate predecessors—Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and Jerry Brown (D)—vetoed similar bills after the state legislature passed laws prohibiting pay-per-signature in 2011, 2018,…

On March 3, 2020, Californians will vote on a $15 billion bond proposition for school and college facilities. The bond measure is set to appear alongside primaries for president, U.S. House, and the state legislature.   Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that placed the bond measure on the ballot on Oct. 7. Newsom said, “We…

Voters in Birmingham, Alabama, approved three ballot measures—Propositions 1, 2, and 3—on Oct. 8. Proposition 1 continues a 42-cent tax for public school use. Proposition 2 continues the 28-cent tax for public school operations. Proposition 3 continues the 28-cent tax for debt service of school bonds. The total tax rate renewed by the propositions was…

On September 30, the newly appointed CEO of Juul Labs, K.C. Crosthwaite, announced that the company was pulling its financial backing of the support campaign for San Francisco Proposition C, a citizen initiative to authorize and regulate the sale of electronic cigarettes. In the announcement, Crosthwaite stated, “We must strive to work with regulators, policymakers…