News & Press - Fairness Project

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.”

Missouri Voters Uphold Direct Democracy with Resounding Rejection of Amendment 4

With Final Tally of 81% to 19%, Jefferson City Politicians’ Brazen Attempt to Consolidate Power Meets Embarrassing Defeat

Kansas Voters Decide to Keep State Courts Nonpartisan

With a resounding rejection of the proposed Amendment, Kansas voters declare that their courts will remain apolitical

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?"

Montana Ballot Measure to Keep Politics out of State Courts Submits over 100,000 Signatures

Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts moves one step closer to passing an amendment to protect the state’s courts from partisan interference

Campaign To Provide Free Meals To Schoolchildren Qualifies For Ballot In North Dakota This Fall

National ballot measure leader and campaign backer the Fairness Project celebrates milestone for economic justice effort

VIRGINIA SUPREME COURT DEALS BLOW TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The national leader in ballot measure campaigns and backer of the ‘Yes’ campaign speaks out in reaction to today’s myopic state supreme court decision

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.

HuffPost: Virginia Voters Just Gave Democrats A Clearer Path To Winning The Midterms

“There was an assumption that in the face of these attacks from Texas and Missouri and North Carolina and elsewhere that Democrats and blue states would just roll over or not stand up and fight,” said Kelly Hall, the executive director of the Fairness Project, which supports liberal ballot measures and spent $12 million backing a “yes” vote. “The balance really has evened out thanks to Virginia and California.”

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