Tag: ballot initiatives
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State ballot measure update: Four ballot measures certified for 2025, one for 2026, during the past two weeks
Four statewide measures are certified for the 2025 ballot in one state—Louisiana—as of Nov. 26, 2024. For 2026, eight statewide measures have been certified for the ballot in six states. 2025 ballot measures During the past two weeks, four constitutional amendments were certified in Louisiana for a special election on March 29, 2025: 2026 ballot…
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Voters have addressed ballot measures on religion in public schools at least nine times during the past 100 years
Voters have decided on at least nine ballot measures related to religion in public schools during the past 100 years. The decade with the highest number was in the 1970s, when voters decided on four between 1970 and 1972. Topics included the Ten Commandments, the Bible, prayer and contemplation, religious clothing, excused absence for religious…
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Arizona voters to consider competing measures, Propositions 133 and 140, on election systems
Voters in Arizona will decide on competing measures related to electoral systems—the methods used to conduct elections and count votes to determine winners. Republicans in the Arizona State Legislature voted to place Proposition 133 on the ballot, while Proposition 140 is a citizen-initiated ballot measure from the Make Elections Fair PAC. Proposition 133 would add…
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2024 ballot initiatives reach record-high cost per signature, exceed combined $172 million for signature drives
Since 2010, Ballotpedia has tracked signature costs for ballot initiative campaigns, and this year marks the highest average cost-per-signature recorded so far. A ballot initiative is a citizen-initiated ballot measure. Signatures are collected to place the proposals on the ballot. In 2024, the average cost-per-required-signature (CPRS) rose to $14.87, up from $12.97 in 2022 and…
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California Proposition 5, proposed to reduce supermajority requirements for some local bonds, would apply to this November’s measures
Voters in California will decide on 10 statewide ballot propositions, including Proposition 5, on Nov. 5. Proposition 5 would lower the vote threshold requirement for local bond measures to fund affordable housing and public infrastructure projects, as defined in the text. Heading into November, a two-thirds vote (or about 66.67%) is needed for voters to…
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Voters in Amarillo, Texas, and San Francisco, California, to decide on abortion-related local ballot measures
Abortion isn’t just an issue for state ballot measures. Voters in at least two cities, Amarillo, Texas, and San Francisco, California, will decide on abortion-related local ballot initiatives on Nov. 5. Both address an issue that the state ballot measures do not—how governments address abortion beyond their jurisdictions. In Amarillo, voters will decide on Proposition…
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Voters in Arizona and Nebraska will decide on competing ballot measures related to electoral systems and abortion, respectively, on Nov. 5
On Nov. 5, 2024, voters will decide on two sets of competing ballot measures: two in Nebraska related to abortion, and two in Arizona related to electoral systems. Two or more initiatives may qualify for the same ballot but conflict with one another. Constitutional amendments affect statutory measures but not vice-versa. When both are statutes,…
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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…