Articles for Ballot Initiatives

Will state laws protect abortion under a Trump presidency? Probably not
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Will state laws protect abortion under a Trump presidency? Probably not

Salon  

This week, the United States elected Donald Trump to be the country’s 47th president. “It is all laid out in Project 2025, but people are going to be watching.” Everyone who voted to expand access to abortion via state ballot initiatives and for Trump "nullified their vote on the abortion amendments." “State constitutions provide no protection whatsoever against Comstock Act, …

Law Abortion Constitution Access Rights States Trump
Abortion rights: How states voted on ballot initiatives
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Abortion rights: How states voted on ballot initiatives

NPR  

Abortion rights: How states voted on ballot initiatives toggle caption Angela Weiss/Getty Images This story originally appeared as part of NPR's live coverage of the 2024 election. Voters in Missouri have overturned their state's near-total abortion ban, while similar ballot measures in Florida and South Dakota failed to secure enough votes, keeping abortion restrictions in place. The ballot initiative presented …

Florida Abortion Rights Missouri Nevada South Dakota Voters
Proposition 33, the rent control statewide ballot measure, is rejected by California voters
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Proposition 33, the rent control statewide ballot measure, is rejected by California voters

LA Times  

California voters on Tuesday rejected an effort to allow stronger rent control laws in California, the third time such a measure was turned down in recent years. Proposition 33 would have allowed cities and counties to pass stricter rent control laws than they can now. twitter facebook envelope angle-double-right angle-down angle-up long-arrow-right Proposition 33 The Associated Press declared defeat for …

California Measure Proposition Rent
It's harder to pay and travel for abortion care, and support funds are struggling
2 months, 3 weeks ago

It's harder to pay and travel for abortion care, and support funds are struggling

NPR  

It's harder to pay and travel for abortion care, and support funds are struggling toggle caption Stephanie Colombini/WUSF Getting an abortion can cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, especially if a patient must leave a state with a strict abortion ban. Sponsor Message “We're in the midst of an abortion funding crisis,” says Oriaku Njoku, the executive director of …

Travel Support Florida Abortion Reproductive Rights Money States
Nebraska will vote on pro-pot measures despite some invalid signatures
3 months, 1 week ago

Nebraska will vote on pro-pot measures despite some invalid signatures

Associated Press  

— Nebraska certified two ballot measures Friday to legalize medical marijuana even though the state’s Republican attorney general said their supporters may have submitted at least several thousand invalid signatures, which could keep them from becoming law. Hilgers and other Republicans oppose their state’s marijuana initiatives, and the attorney general immediately faced questions about scheduling his news conference the same …

Medical Florida Medical Marijuana Kansas Nebraska Republican State
Anti-Abortion Crusaders Have a New Way to Keep the Question Away From Voters
54 years, 11 months ago

Anti-Abortion Crusaders Have a New Way to Keep the Question Away From Voters

Slate  

With more ballot initiatives ready to go before voters, supporters of reproductive rights are hoping to continue their impressive winning streak. But conservatives looking at what just happened in Arkansas are hoping they’ve found a way to stop the bleeding: by using obscure rules favored by election deniers to keep voters from weighing in on reproductive rights in the first …

Supreme Court Abortion Reproductive Rights Election State Voters Ballot
FEC urges Congress to close foreign money loophole
1 year ago

FEC urges Congress to close foreign money loophole

Raw Story  

This article originally appeared in OpenSecrets. The Federal Election Commission is urging Congress to close a loophole in federal law that allows foreign corporations to finance ballot measures. The Federal Election Campaign Act currently prohibits foreign nationals and corporations from making political donations and independent expenditures in connection to an election for federal, state or local office. For years, government …

Congress Campaign Election State Ballot Federal Federal Law
How a South Dakota priest inspired 125 years of direct democracy — and the fight to preserve it
1 year, 1 month ago

How a South Dakota priest inspired 125 years of direct democracy — and the fight to preserve it

Associated Press  

Thanks to a rabble-rousing, socialist priest, it’s a milestone year for direct democracy in the U.S. and not just because Ohio voters are circumventing their Republican-controlled legislature to decide for themselves if they have constitutional abortion rights. In “Citizen Lawmakers: The Ballot Initiative Revolution,” David Schmidt describes the complex U.S. origins, naming Haire as one of the country’s first two …

Process Ohio Right South Republican South Dakota Ballot
Mississippi should revive process to put issues on ballot, Secretary of State Watson says
1 year, 3 months ago

Mississippi should revive process to put issues on ballot, Secretary of State Watson says

Associated Press  

— Mississippi should revive a process that lets voters put initiatives on the statewide ballot, Secretary of State Michael Watson said Wednesday, although he hasn’t yet settled on the exact number of signatures people would need to gather. Mississippi has been without initiatives since May 2021, when the state Supreme Court ruled the state’s process was invalid because it required …

Republican State Mississippi Watson Mississippians
The Plan to Claw Back Abortion Rights State by State Just Hit a Major Roadblock
54 years, 11 months ago

The Plan to Claw Back Abortion Rights State by State Just Hit a Major Roadblock

Slate  

In the aftermath of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court’s decision undoing abortion rights, anti-abortion groups have focused more than ever on the federal courts, and with good reason. South Carolina has a capacious privacy right in its state constitutional tradition, and it was for that reason that the state supreme court struck down a six-week ban …

Supreme Court Abortion Judges Court Rights States Courts
GOP state lawmakers try to restrict ballot initiatives, partly to thwart abortion protections
1 year, 7 months ago

GOP state lawmakers try to restrict ballot initiatives, partly to thwart abortion protections

Associated Press  

COLUMBUS, Ohio — With other state lawmakers seated around her in the Ohio House, Democratic state Rep. Tavia Galonski got to her feet and began to loudly chant, “One person, one vote!” The former Teamster’s cry spread quickly through the visitors gallery, then began to rise from the throng of protesters gathered outside in the statehouse rotunda. Last week’s striking …

Constitutional Democratic Missouri Process Democrats Republican State
GOP state lawmakers try to restrict ballot initiatives, partly to thwart abortion protections
1 year, 7 months ago

GOP state lawmakers try to restrict ballot initiatives, partly to thwart abortion protections

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy With other state lawmakers seated around her in the Ohio …

Constitutional Democratic Missouri Process Ohio Democrats Republican
Initiatives battle for voter rights in Michigan
2 years, 5 months ago

Initiatives battle for voter rights in Michigan

Associated Press  

LANSING, Mich. — An effort to lock certain voting rights in the Michigan Constitution has taken a major step toward the fall ballot, eclipsing a rival campaign led by Republicans to limit absentee voting and add other restrictions. The ballot question would expand voter rights by allowing nine days of in-person early voting, state-funded absentee ballot postage and drop boxes …

Voting Election Michigan Vote Ballot Absentee Promote The Vote
Lawmakers push 60% vote threshold on tax ballot measures
3 years, 9 months ago

Lawmakers push 60% vote threshold on tax ballot measures

Associated Press  

— South Dakota Republicans on Thursday voted to put a constitutional amendment on the next primary election ballot that would make it more difficult to pass ballot initiatives to raise taxes or spend public funds. Nonetheless, a majority of GOP lawmakers passed the resolution to ask primary voters in June 2022 to decide whether ballot initiatives should have a 60% …

Senate Republican Voters Vote Ballot Republicans Primary
Senate wants 60% voter threshold for some ballot initiatives
3 years, 9 months ago

Senate wants 60% voter threshold for some ballot initiatives

Associated Press  

— The South Dakota Senate on Tuesday paved the way for primary election voters to speed into law before the next general election a constitutional amendment requiring a higher voter threshold for future ballot initiatives that pass taxes or spending programs. But the Senate passed it by the thinnest of margins — a single vote — to put it to …

Constitutional Election Senate Republican Voters Amendment Vote
Lawsuit: Keep Arizona pot initiative off ballot
4 years, 5 months ago

Lawsuit: Keep Arizona pot initiative off ballot

Associated Press  

GLENDALE, Ariz — A group opposed to legalized marijuana announced a lawsuit Tuesday against an initiative that would allow adults in Arizona to possess up to an ounce of pot. Initiatives boosting taxes on high-earning Arizonans to fund education, forbidding surprise medical billing and overhauling the state’s criminal sentencing rules face similar challenges to the summary, and two of the …

Lawsuit Arizona Voters Group Initiative Summary