“We continue to see a wide gulf between how voters are expressing their desires and how many extremist legislatures are acting,” Kelly Hall, the executive director of the Fairness Project, an advocacy group that backs progressive ballot measures, says.
As state legislatures convene across the country this month, the Fairness Project is closely watching as reactionary politicians begin a new round of attacks on citizen-initiated ballot measures and gearing up to fight back.
Republican lawmakers have sought to make it harder to get citizen-led initiatives on the ballot. “Those lawmakers know their ideological views are out of sync with their voters,” Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, told The Guardian. “They are trying to change the rules of the game.”
Last week, the New York Times Editorial Board drew attention to the crucial role of ballot measures in protecting abortion rights, calling to further explore direct democracy as a method to protect reproductive freedom.
"The editorial board is right. Ballot measures are a critical tool for voters to defend reproductive rights. But the editorial misses one big point: The window of opportunity to use them is already closing."
“We’re pretty close to the end” of expansion by way of citizen initiatives, said Kelly Hall, executive director of The Fairness Project, a national organization created to promote Medicaid expansion and other progressive goals through ballot initiatives.
“There are so many different ways this process can get disrupted or delayed or basically be terminated altogether. This is one of the most obvious,” said Kelly Hall, the executive director of the Fairness Project, a nonprofit organization that helps progressive groups advance citizen-led ballot initiatives.
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