ballot initiatives
March 23, 2022 -
Arkansas and Florida are the only Southern states that still allow citizens to place questions on the ballot, but Republican lawmakers there want to erect new barriers to this form of direct democracy.
September 9, 2020 -
High courts in Arkansas and Florida have blocked ballot measures that would have required nonpartisan redistricting and banned assault weapons. The courts cited new laws that raise the bar for citizens to put constitutional amendments on the ballot.
June 29, 2018 -
In the final days of its 2018 session, the General Assembly approved a series of constitutional amendments for the November ballot that if passed would restrict voting and expand the legislature's power over the courts and the executive branch.
June 1, 2018 -
This November, voters in Alabama and West Virginia will weigh in on ballot questions about adding anti-abortion provisions to state constitutions. The legislatively-placed measures are part of a broader effort to limit women's access to reproductive health care that's made dramatic headway in Southern states in recent years.
March 16, 2018 -
Nursing homes and other corporations that do not like being sued are pushing state constitutional amendments to limit damages juries can award — the latest move in a long corporate-funded campaign to limit access to civil justice.
February 12, 2018 -
Eight years since the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision lifting limits on political spending, wealthy interests have gained even more influence over elections while transparency has suffered. But grassroots efforts are underway to shift power back to ordinary citizens.
November 10, 2016 -
Voters in Virginia also rejected an anti-union amendment to the state constitution, though a similar amendment passed overwhelmingly in Alabama. Meanwhile, Georgia voters rejected a controversial ballot measure that would have allowed the state to take over troubled public schools.
