NBC News: Missouri voters block GOP-led effort to raise bar to pass constitutional amendments
It would have created “the strictest passage threshold in the country for citizen-initiated ballot measures only,” according to Hannah Ledford, the deputy director of the Fairness Project, a group that supports citizen initiative processes. She added it could have left Missouri’s direct democracy process “functionally dead.”
Voters to Decide Today on Minority Rule, Nonpartisan State Courts
In Missouri, Amendment 4 Threatens Citizens’ Right to Amend State Constitution by Majority Rule, while a Kansas amendment would turn Supreme Court Justice seats into elected partisan positions
AP: Missouri proposal would create nation’s toughest standard for citizen-led constitutional amendments
“This is a first-of-its-kind,” said Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, a national group that backs progressive ballot initiatives like the ones Missouri’s Republican lawmakers are hoping to quelch.
NPR: Some states will ask voters to make it harder to pass constitutional amendments
"The theme of 2026 is the battle over direct democracy availability itself," [Kelly Hall] told NPR. "This is a really powerful tool … and one of the most frequent topics that we will see voted on this November is, can voters continue to exercise that right meaningfully?"
Missouri Ballot Measure to Shield Voter-Approved Laws from Legislative Reversal Submits over 367,000 Signatures
The Respect Missouri Voters campaign is one step closer to passing an amendment requiring ballot measures to be summarized in clear terms for voters and protected from legislative undoing
New York Times: Why Virginia’s New Map Matters for the Midterms, and What’s Next
“We cannot bring a stick to a knife fight,” [said] Kelly Hall, the executive director of the Fairness Project, which spent more than $12 million backing the redistricting referendum.
Bloomberg: Virginia Redistricting Vote Boosts House Democrats’ Majority Bid
“Virginians really stepped up tonight and over the course of early voting to push back on an assault on fairness in our national democracy,” Kelly Hall, executive director of The Fairness Project, a progressive advocacy group that funds ballot initiative campaigns, said.
Stateline: Republican lawmakers in 3 states want voters to alter or scrap Medicaid expansion
Kelly Hall, the executive director of the Fairness Project, a nonprofit that helped put the constitutional amendments on the ballot in all three states, said the fact that lawmakers have to go back to voters to make changes “is a testament to the strength of the original strategy.”
New York Times: In Virginia Redistricting Win, Democrats Play Hardball to Thwart Trump
“We cannot bring a stick to a knife fight,” said Kelly Hall, the executive director of the Fairness Project, which spent more than $12 million backing the redistricting referendum.
