The proposed amendment “is not about creating consensus”, argues Kelly Hall of the Fairness Project, a national non-profit group that supports liberal ballot initiatives and is campaigning against Ohio’s proposed change. Rather, “it’s a power grab by the legislature to make sure that more decisions remain in their hands.”
“We’ve been seeing an acceleration of these attacks on ballot measure processes more every year for the past several years,” said Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, which works to pass progressive ballot measures.
The Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights coalition submitted nearly half a million valid signatures to set up the showdown this fall over abortion rights and other forms of reproductive freedom — more than 80,000 more than were needed to qualify.
Today, the Fairness Project released its report, The Direct Democracy and Voting Rights Crisis, providing an overview of a decade-long effort to attack state-level ballot measures and citizen-led initiatives with the goal of consolidating power in the hands of extreme state legislators.
An analysis released by the Fairness Project, an advocacy group that supports progressive citizen-sponsored ballot measures, argues that “direct democracy is facing a coordinated attack from extremist politicians who are either unresponsive to or intent on silencing the voices of their constituents.”
Today, advocates from across Nebraska officially launched a groundbreaking campaign to boost the state economy and defend workers’ rights by enacting paid sick leave policy for thousands of workers. The campaign will next begin collecting signatures to qualify their ballot measure for the 2024 general election.
The ads call attention to efforts from special interests and politicians to not only block voters from protecting reproductive freedom, but also permanently change the constitution and diminish voters’ rights.
“It’s certainly a pattern,” Ledford said. “I fully expect additional attacks on the ballot measure process to continue, and we will be fighting these fights next month and beyond.”
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