Ballot Measure-o-meter

A bill to create a citizen-led ballot initiative process has been introduced in the Alabama House of Representatives. The proposal, House Bill 14, would amend the state’s constitution to grant voters the right to propose general laws or constitutional amendments.

Voters approved pair of legislatively-referred measures, to support the state’s Healthy School Meals for All program and the SNAP federal food assistance program for low-income families following cuts made by Congress. Hunger Free Colorado estimates that the Healthy School Meals for All program saves a family as much as $1,250 per child every year. 

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.

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. 

The push to protect the state’s ballot initiative process comes on the heels of lawmakers partially repealing 2024’s popular paid sick leave initiative. The legislation — which passed by a margin of just one vote — targeted temporary and seasonal agricultural workers and small business employees, stripping an estimated 140,000+ workers of the guaranteed right to earn paid sick time and overriding the will of the nearly 75% of voters who approved I-436.

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.

A federal court judge stressed concerns about free speech violations when he ruled against several new anti-initiative laws in Arkansas. The judge blocked state officials from enforcing six new laws that would have made it nearly impossible for Arkansans to use the ballot initiative process. These include an affidavit requirement that the judge called ‘draconian’, an 8th grade reading level requirement that’s already been weaponized against several initiative campaigns this year, and unnecessary burdens placed on voters trying to sign petitions.

Unfortunately, Arkansas’ Secretary of State has appealed the judge’s decision.

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.

Frustrated by their repeated failed attempts to ignore the redistricting requirements put in place by a 2018 citizen-led ballot measure, some extremist Utah politicians are hoping to take their revenge on the initiative process itself. After a district court judge recently rejected a gerrymandered map drawn by the legislature, Gov. Cox said he had “deep, deep concerns” about direct democracy. Lawmakers have threatened to pursue a legislatively-referred amendment to limit the power of citizen-led initiatives.

On February 9, plaintiffs representing Florida Decides Healthcare will begin their federal trial against a slate of aggressive anti-direct democracy policies that have made it incredibly challenging for grassroots campaigns to collect initiative petition signatures. Their lawsuit focuses on several provisions of 2025’s House Bill 1205, including criminal fines and penalties, circulator eligibility bans, drastic verification fee increases, and more.

Working with a legal team that includes Elias Law Group and Southern Poverty Law Center, Florida Decides Healthcare successfully secured two major preliminary injunctions against some of HB 1205’s provisions last year.

Mainers defeated a dangerous anti-voting initiative that would have eliminated two days of absentee voting, terminated ongoing absentee status for seniors and people with disabilities, required voters to present photo ID when voting in-person or by absentee ballot, and more. Maine historically has one of the highest rates of voter participation in the nation — a distinction that could easily have been threatened by this initiative.

The Missouri legislature’s Amendment 4 seeks to severely undermine the state’s citizen-led ballot initiatives. The proposed amendment would require that initiatives be passed by a majority of voters in each of Missouri’s congressional districts — making it the highest vote threshold in the country. If voters approve the law, as few as 5% of opposing voters could defeat a ballot initiative.

A harmful anti-trans ballot initiative is proposing to block transgender women from female sports. BISC’s partners at Silver State Equality have called Gov. Lombardo’s initiative discriminatory and say that it encourages adults “to police girls’ bodies and appearance.”

Senate Bill 1027 is an especially restrictive anti-direct democracy measure that severely limits how many signatures can be counted from any single county for ballot initiative petitions. The law strips power away from rural and urban voters alike: in the state’s smallest county, for example, a maximum of 152 voters could have their signatures counted on any petition for a constitutional amendment.

Two lawsuits have already been filed against the new law.