Follow the latest news coverage and media releases from the Fairness Project as we work to win and protect ballot measures across the country.
Today, a non-partisan, grassroots coalition in Ohio submitted more than 700,000 signatures from state residents in all 88 counties in an effort to qualify a critical ballot measure to defend reproductive rights.
“South Dakota’s implementation of Medicaid this week is a hard-fought victory by voters, advocates, providers, and countless individuals who organized for years to make this possible,” said Kelly Hall, executive director of The Fairness Project, which has helped several states expand Medicaid via voter referendums since 2017.
In each place, Hall said, advocates would have to file proposed ballot language and form committees before Labor Day to qualify for the 2024 ballot. She cautioned, however, that just because surveys show a growing majority of Americans oppose strict abortion bans doesn’t mean ballot initiatives are sure to succeed.
Today, the One Person, One Vote campaign in Ohio launched an ad campaign in opposition to Issue 1, a proposal from the General Assemblyto require citizen-initiated ballot measures to pass by a supermajority of 60%.
This week, Rolling Stone covered the coordinated attack by conservative state legislators and special interests to crack down on citizen-initiated ballot measures in order to further restrict abortion rights.
“They are saying: ‘We know that voters disagree with us on this issue, and rather than us changing how we govern to be more in line with the people who we are elected to represent, we are going to change the rules of governance itself to make sure that we don’t have to listen to our constituents.’"
The only question on the ballot is Issue 1, a proposal to require that 60% of voters approve citizen-initiated constitutional amendments, instead of a simple majority — meaning that a small group of voters would have control over such decisions.
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This week, The New Yorker spotlighted how advocates for direct democracy, including the Fairness Project, are fighting back against to right-wing attacks on the ballot measure process in Ohio in advance of a proposed reproductive rights amendment this fall.
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