Tag: ballot measure
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Campaign to repeal ranked-choice voting in Alaska submits signatures
In Alaska, a campaign supporting an initiative to repeal top-four ranked-choice voting (RCV) submitted 41,895 signatures on Jan. 12. The initiative could appear on the general election ballot in Nov. In 2020, voters approved Ballot Measure 2, which replaced partisan primaries with open top-four primaries and established ranked-choice voting for general elections, including the presidential…
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Florida abortion rights initiative surpasses signature requirement to appear on 2024 ballot pending state supreme court approval
Floridians Protecting Freedom has submitted 911,169 valid signatures to place an initiative on the Nov. 2024 ballot that would prohibit any state laws that restrict, delay, penalize, or ban abortion before fetal viability. To qualify for the ballot, 891,523 valid signatures (equal to 8% of the total votes cast in the last presidential election) were…
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Let’s Go Washington PAC submitted 2.6 million signatures for six ballot initiatives that could appear on the ballot in Nov. 2024
Let’s Go Washington, a campaign supporting six citizen-initiated ballot measures in Washington, submitted 2.6 million signatures for the initiatives before the deadline on Dec. 29, 2023. At least 324,516 signatures must be found to be valid for each initiative. That’s 1.95 million total signatures between the six initiatives. State Rep. Jim Walsh (R-19) sponsored the…
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California campaign withdraws veto referendum on fast-food employment law from 2024 ballot under new process
On Dec. 29, the Save Our Local Restaurants PAC withdrew a veto referendum from the Nov. 5, 2024, ballot that would have repealed California Assembly Bill 257 (AB 257). AB 257 was designed to establish a 10-member fast food council authorized to adopt a minimum wage for fast food restaurant employees not to exceed $22…
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More legislative changes to the ballot measure process and direct democracy in 2023 than previous five years
Legislatures enacted more pieces of legislation related to direct democracy—ballot initiatives, referendums, and recall petitions—in 2023 than the previous five years. In 2023, 45 bills and resolutions were enacted, which exceeds the annual average of 32 for this period. The previous largest number of bills enacted was 44 in 2019. While there was an increase…
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Update on this year’s and next year’s ballot measure certifications
In 2023, 41 statewide measures were certified for the ballot in eight states, 10 more measures than the average number certified in other odd-numbered years from 2011 to 2021. There are no more pending state ballot measures for 2023. The final election for state ballot measures was on Sat., Nov. 18 in Louisiana, where voters approved…
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New York will require ballot measure questions to not exceed an eighth-grade reading level
Starting in 2024, New York will implement new language requirements for state ballot questions. On Nov. 17, 2023, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed Senate Bill 1381 (SB 1381), which requires state ballot measure questions to be written using clear language and not exceed an eighth-grade reading level. In the Legislature, SB 1381 received a unanimous…
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Voters in Ohio to decide on Issue 1, which would provide a state constitutional right to abortion, on Nov. 7
Ohio voters will decide on two statewide ballot measures on Nov. 7, 2023. Along with Issue 2, which would legalize recreational marijuana for adults over 21, voters will also decide on Issue 1, which would create the state constitutional right to abortion and other reproductive matters. Issue 1 is a constitutional amendment, which would add…
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Louisiana voters will decide on Amendment 1 on Oct. 14 that would prohibit private or foreign funding of elections
Amendment 1, on the ballot for Oct. 14, 2023, in Louisiana, would ban private, non-governmental, and foreign funding of elections in the state. While there has been legislation in several states to ban private funding for elections, Louisiana Amendment 1 is the first time that voters will decide the issue. In 2022, voters in Michigan…
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Where have ranked-choice voting measures been on the ballot? 4 states and 45 localities since 1970
The ballot measure has played a role in shaping electoral systems in the U.S., including ranked-choice voting (RCV) for state and local elections. Since 1914, when voters in Los Angeles, California, rejected Amendment 8 to adopt a multi-winner ranked-choice voting system, there have been more than 150 ballot measures to adopt or repeal ranked-choice voting…