Ballot Measure-o-meter

The New York State Equal Rights Amendment would add to the state constitution explicit protections for people who experience discrimination. Specifically related to abortion, the measure protects against discrimination for pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes, and would protect against government action that could limit reproductive care. The amendment also protects sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

The Citizens Not Politicians Amendment aims to end gerrymandering in Ohio by empowering citizens, not politicians, to draw fair districts using an open and transparent process. If passed by voters, it will: Create a 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission, ban current or former politicians, political party officials, and lobbyists from sitting on the Commission, and require fair and impartial districts by making it unconstitutional to draw voting districts that discriminate against or favor any political party or individual politician.

In Oklahoma, voters have collected enough signatures to place State Question 832 on the 2024 statewide ballot. If passed by voters, SQ 832 would gradually raise the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 by 2029.

Amendment 4 to Limit Government Interference with Abortion would establish in the Florida state constitution the right to an abortion before fetal viability. If successful, the amendment would overturn the state’s 15-week and 6-week abortion bans.

Better Jobs for Alaska is working to raise the current $11.73/hour minimum wage to $15/hour by 2027, mandate as much as 56 hours of annual paid sick leave for employees, and prohibit employers from requiring their employees to attend meetings on political and religious topics unrelated to their jobs.

A legislatively-referred constitutional amendment will ask Kentucky voters if the legislature should be allowed to direct public taxpayer funds to private or charter K-12 schools. The Kentucky Education Association, which represents tens of thousands of public school educators across the state, has warned that the measure would hurt every public school in the state if it passes.

SB 1377 targets paid petition circulators, requiring that they verbally disclose to signers that they are paid, wear a badge indicating “Paid Petition Circulator”, and more. Unpaid circulators are required to complete a sworn affidavit attesting that they are volunteers and not being compensated. There will be harsh consequences for failure to comply with any of the provisions, including that any petition for a referendum campaign that fails to comply with the rules be voided.

SCR 1041 would allow anyone to challenge the constitutionality of a citizen-led ballot initiative in court up to 100 days before the election. The resolution would slow the process with frivolous lawsuits and force a campaign to spend money on litigation rather than educating and engaging voters.

North Dakota’s Constitutional Measure 2 would require a single-subject for initiatives and requires proposed constitutional initiatives to  be approved at both the primary and general election in order to become effective.

In California, an anti-trans initiative that would target transgender youth is gathering signatures for the 2024 ballot. The measure, deceptively called the “Protect Kids of California Act 2024,” would require schools to notify parents if their child expressed issues related to gender identification, bar trans students from participating in sports that do not align with their biological sex, and block access to gender-related medical procedures for minors — even with parental consent.

Colorado’s GOP has formed an issue committee to support multiple initiative petitions restricting rights and healthcare for trans and LGBTQ+ youth. To date, there have been 30 anti-trans initiatives filed, 14 have had Title Board hearings, 7 have been rejected, and 14 were ultimately withdrawn.

Missouri legislators have introduced more attacks on the citizen initiative process than any other state. SJR 74 and HJR 86 could make it harder for constitutional amendments to pass by requiring future measures to be approved both by a majority of Missourians and in a majority of 5/8ths of Congressional districts in order to pass. That means that as few as 23% of voters could effectively defeat a ballot initiative otherwise approved by a majority of voters. It’s no coincidence that this proposal to move the goalposts comes at the same time that reproductive rights advocates are pursuing a ballot measure to overturn the state’s near-total ban on abortion.