Category: Ballot measures
-
Supreme Court and FEC distinguish campaign finance regulations for ballot measures from candidate elections, including for foreign spending
Campaign finance rules for ballot measures differ from those for candidate elections. “Referenda are held on issues, not candidates for public office,” wrote the U.S. Supreme Court in 1978 (First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti). The court has held that spending on ballot measure campaigns is similar to issue advocacy in the lawmaking process.…
-
South Dakota voters will decide on ballot initiative to establish top-two primaries
In South Dakota, a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment that would establish top-two primaries in the state was certified on May 21, 2024. Voters will decide on the initiative at the general election on Nov. 5. South Dakota Open Primaries, the campaign behind the initiative, submitted about 46,500 signatures on May 7. A random sample determined that…
-
Initiative to restrict spending by certain healthcare providers that participate in Medi-Cal Rx, like the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, qualifies for the California ballot
Protect Patients Now, which is sponsored by the California Apartment Association, has qualified an initiative for the November ballot in California that would require entities defined as prescription drug price manipulators to spend at least 98% or more of their revenue earned from their national participation in the 340B program on direct patient care to…
-
Missouri voters to decide amendment regarding fees supporting law enforcement benefits, joining three other amendments on the 2024 ballot
Missouri voters will decide on a constitutional amendment that would allow for courts of justice to levy costs and fees in order to provide for salaries and benefits for law enforcement personnel. The amendment will be on the Nov. 5, 2024, ballot. The amendment was referred to the ballot by the Missouri State Legislature. For…
-
Voters in Missouri will decide on the first constitutional amendment to prohibit ranked-choice voting (RCV)
The Missouri State Legislature took the final vote on May 17 to send a constitutional amendment to voters this Nov. that would prohibit non-citizen voting and the use of ranked-choice voting (RCV) in elections. In November, Iowa, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Wisconsin, along with Missouri, will have measures on their ballots concerning citizenship voter requirements.…
-
Nevada campaign submits signatures for right to abortion amendment, may join four or more other states voting on abortion in 2024
In Nevada, a campaign supporting a ballot initiative to establish a constitutional right to an abortion submitted more than 200,000 signatures on May 20, 2024. If enough signatures are found valid, the initiative will appear on the ballot on Nov. 5, 2024. Voters in 12 states could see abortion measures on the ballot in 2024.…
-
Colorado voters to decide on constitutional right to abortion in Nov. 2024, joining Florida, Maryland, and South Dakota
Colorado is the fourth state set to vote on an abortion-related ballot measure in November. The initiative will be the 10th abortion-related measure to be decided by Colorado voters. Colorado has seen more abortion-related ballot measures than any other state. There have been nine on the ballot since the first in 1984, and this year…
-
Update on 2024 ballot measure certifications: 13 new certified measures, 13 pending signature verification
For 2024, 105 statewide ballot measures have been certified for the ballot in 35 states, five more measures than the average (100) 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. Here’s an update on the…
-
California initiative to require a personal finance course in high school qualifies for the ballot
The California Secretary of State announced on May 8 that Californians for Financial Education had submitted 693,676 valid signatures—surpassing the signature requirement of 546,651 and qualifying for a place on the Nov. 5 ballot. The initiated state statute would require students graduating during the 2029-2030 academic year to complete a one-semester personal finance course. The…
-
Colorado voters will decide in Nov. whether or not to allow state to keep additional sports betting tax revenue
The Colorado State Legislature has referred a measure to voters that would allow the state to retain tax revenue collected above $29 million annually from the tax on sports betting proceeds. In 2019, voters approved Proposition DD, which legalized sports betting and enacted a 10% tax on sports betting proceeds. Net sports betting proceeds equal…