Ballot Measure-o-meter

Idahoans United for Women & Families are pursuing a ballot initiative to restore critical reproductive healthcare in the Gem State. Under the initiative, lawmakers could not restrict abortion access before the point of fetal viability, and access to birth control and fertility treatments like IVF would be protected. Currently, abortion is banned in Idaho with narrow exceptions for rape, incest, or to save the life of the pregnant person.

Missouri voters have protected the voices of voters across the state and secured a landmark victory for the People’s Tool nationwide, rejecting a dangerous attack on direct democracy, majority rule, and the will of the people. The Missouri legislature’s Amendment 4 proposed the country’s most extreme standard for citizen-led measures to succeed, requiring that initiatives be passed by a majority of voters in each of Missouri’s congressional districts. In other words, as few as 5% of opposing voters could have defeated a ballot initiative.

The Respect Nebraska Voters coalition is pursuing a ballot initiative to protect the state’s citizen-led initiative process by raising the vote threshold required for legislators to make changes to voter-approved measures. 

Advocates with Respect NE Voters submitted more than 186,000 petition signatures.

Following a two-year, multi-session process, Virginia legislators have advanced a reproductive rights amendment to the November ballot.The proposal, which passed along party lines, would amend the state constitution to establish the right to make decisions about all matters related to one’s pregnancy. That would cover everything from abortions to contraception and fertility treatments.

North Dakota’s House of Representatives is proposing a constitutional amendment that, if approved by voters, would create a single-subject rule for all future ballot measures in the state. Advocates for direct democracy have raised concerns that the amendment would give state officials a disproportionate amount of power to approve or deny changes to the constitution and would inevitably lead to more legislative and litigation-related hurdles to passing citizen-initiated measures.

North Carolina voters will weigh in on two anti-revenue measures this November: one to slash the state’s maximum allowable personal and corporate income tax rates and another requiring lawmakers to limit the amount that county governments may increase property taxes.

Critics like the N.C. Budget and Tax Center warn the measures would limit state and local government revenue options and lock in outsized tax breaks for big business

The legislatively-referred measure would require voters to show photo identification for in-person voting. Ballot measures like this seek to shape political participation and representation.

A legislatively-referred amendment would require that any tax-related citizen-initiated ballot measures must pass by at least 60% in order to take effect. (Legislatively measures, on the other hand would continue to pass with a simple majority.)

This is thought to be the latest step in an ongoing strategy to make all of Utah’s citizen-led initiatives harder to qualify and pass.

This November, Wyoming voters will weigh in on a ballot initiative to further reduce residential property taxes by 50% for those who’ve lived in the state for at least a year — without providing a plan to backfill for local governments. Property taxes are the single largest revenue source in most Wyoming counties, raising $2 billion statewide in 2024 alone. As such, this proposal is estimated to cost local governments an estimated $644 million in lost revenue.

A legislatively-referred measure would significantly expand homestead exemptions and reduce local property tax revenue. According to Save Our Services – No on 3, a statewide coalition fighting to defeat the amendment, local communities would be forced to either cut essential services or raise other taxes and fees to make up the difference. Services at risk could include firefighting and EMS, after-school programs for children, hurricane shelters, and more.

A Nevada group called Repair the Vote is attempting to pass their own voter ID initiative. A legislative compromise that would have required voter ID but also expanded the number of ballot drop boxes was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Lombardi, a voter ID proponent, who claimed continued concerns about the security of voting by mail.

An initiative backed by conservative group Let’s Go Washington is proposing to require teachers and school counselors to ‘out’ LGBTQIA+ students to parents and guardians. If passed, the measure would also restrict student access to help for challenges like depression, sexual assault, domestic violence, bullying, and anxiety by removing common sense records protection.

A coalition of education, civil rights, and domestic violence prevention organizations called No Hate in WA State is fighting to educate voters about the dangers of this initiative and another anti-trans measure.