Tag: ballot measure
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A look at Arizona's 459 ballot measures since statehood
Since 1911, there have been 459 state ballot measures in Arizona. Voters approved 237 (51.63%) and defeated 222 (48.37%). Ballotpedia has a complete dataset of state ballot measures for Arizona, which became a state in 1912. The initiative and referendum were included in the state's constitution, ratified in 1911, two months before statehood. Between 1911…
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Voters in San Francisco, California, will decide on seven local ballot measures on March 5
Voters in San Francisco, California, will decide on seven ballot measures on Mar. 5, 2024, including one bond measure, one charter amendment, four ordinances, and one declaration. The ballot measures concern topics related to housing bonds, allowing commercial spaces to be converted to residential properties without incurring a real estate transfer tax, local ethics laws,…
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Texas Republican Party places 13 nonbinding advisory questions on the March primary ballot
The Texas Republican Party has placed 13 nonbinding advisory questions on the March 5 primary ballot. The Texas Democratic Party does not plan on placing any questions on primary ballots this year. The last time they did was in 2020. An advisory question is a type of ballot measure in which citizens vote on a…
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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…