Category: Ballot measures
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Arkansas veto referendum on LEARNS Act falls short of required signatures
Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students (CAPES) submitted signatures on July 31 to place a veto referendum on the Nov. 2024 ballot to repeal the LEARNS Act, an education bill signed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R). To qualify for the ballot, 54,422 valid signatures are needed from 50 of Arkansas’ 75 counties. A…
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Marijuana legalization campaign submits additional signatures for Nov. 2023 ballot; needs 10% to be found valid
The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, the campaign supporting a marijuana legalization initiative in Ohio, submitted an additional round of 6,545 signatures to the secretary of state on Aug. 3, 2023. If enough valid signatures are found, this would qualify the initiative for the Nov. 7, 2023, ballot in Ohio. The initiative needs at…
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Maine voters to decide on eight ballot measures in November—the most since 2010
During a special legislative session, the Maine State Legislature approved four constitutional amendments on July 25 that will appear on the November ballot. Maine voters will decide on these four amendments, as well as four citizen-initiated state statutes, on Nov. 7, 2023. This is the greatest amount of statewide measures to appear on the Maine…
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Update on this year’s and next year’s ballot measure certifications
As of July 25, 2023, 40 statewide measures have been certified for the ballot in eight states, 15 more measures more than the average number certified at this point in other even-numbered years from 2010 to 2020. For 2024, 45 statewide measures have been certified in 21 states. That’s equal to the average number certified…
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Ohio Proposal 1 is one of five bills or resolutions passed in 2023 that could make the initiative process more difficult
Ohio Issue 1 would make several changes to the state’s citizen-initiated constitutional amendment process, including enacting a 60% vote threshold and expanding the signature distribution requirement. Issue 1, as a constitutional amendment, is on the ballot for voters to decide on Aug. 8. The Ohio State Legislature referred Issue 1 to the ballot on May…
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Texas voters will decide on a second homestead tax exemption increase in two years in November
On July 13, the Texas State Legislature finalized a constitutional amendment and adopted implementing legislation designed to lower property taxes before adjourning its second special legislative session of the year. The amendment, which voters will decide on in Nov., would: increase the homestead tax exemption from $40,000 to $100,000; authorize the state legislature to limit…
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Ohio Issue 1 is the 270th proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution since the 1912 constitutional convention
On Aug. 8, voters in Ohio will decide Issue 1, the 270th proposed amendment to the state’s constitution since the 1912 constitutional convention. Voters approved 161 (59.85%) and rejected 108 (40.15%) of the proposed constitutional amendments from 1912 to 2022. Want to learn more about Ohio Issue 1? Check out Ballotpedia’s page on the constitutional…
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Update on this year’s and next year’s ballot measure certifications
As of July 11, 2023, 33 statewide measures have been certified for the ballot in eight states for elections in 2023. That’s nine more measures than the average number (24) certified at this point in other odd-numbered years from 2011 to 2021. The number certified—33—also ties with 2021 for the highest number of any of those…
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Ohio Issue 1: Examining the 60% vote requirement within the context of other states and prior ballot measures
On Aug. 8, voters in Ohio will approve or reject Issue 1, which would make three changes to the laws governing citizen-initiated constitutional amendments. With the commencement of early voting yesterday, we took the opportunity to provide an overview of Issue 1, which you can read here. In this article, we delve into one specific…
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No signatures submitted for Washington initiatives by July 7 deadline
The signature submission deadline for Initiatives to the People (ITP)—which is the name of direct ballot initiatives in Washington—passed on July 7, 2023. No campaigns submitted signatures. To qualify for the ballot, proponents would have needed to submit 324,516 valid signatures. A total of 70 ITPs were filed by five sponsors. The filed initiatives concerned…