Category Archives: direct democracy

“Ohio Issue 1 fails: Big cities, suburban and many rural counties voted down issue”

August 8, 2023, 5:50 pmdirect democracyRick Hasen

Columbus Dispatch: Issue 1 was projected to fail on Tuesday, according to Decision Desk HQ, dealing a blow to Ohio Republicans who wanted to hamstring a November ballot question on abortion rights. Decision Desk HQ, an election results reporting agency… Continue reading

Melissa Murray and Kate Shaw: What Happened to the Part of Dobbs About Letting the People Decide About Abortion Rights?

August 7, 2023, 5:12 pmdirect democracyRick Hasen

Murray and Shaw NYT Oped: In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court justified its decision overruling Roe with an appeal to democracy. In the Dobbs majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the conclusion in Roe… Continue reading

Democratic Party in DC Files Complaint Alleging Use of Ranked Choice Voting in DC is Unconstitutional

August 7, 2023, 8:48 amdirect democracyRick Hasen

See this complaint (via Martin Austermuhle).

“Direct Democracy Backsliding? Quantifying the Prevalence and Investigating Causes 1960-2022”

August 3, 2023, 6:17 amdirect democracyRick Hasen

John Matsusaka has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Direct democracy backsliding occurs when a state alters its laws to hinder the use of initiatives and referendums. This study quantifies the prevalence of direct democracy backsliding over… Continue reading

“Republicans dominate in Florida. Abortion and pot could change that.”

July 30, 2023, 6:26 amdirect democracyDan Tokaji

Politico: “National Democrats had all but written off Florida as a lost cause — a former purple state turned solid red by the MAGA movement and Gov. Ron DeSantis. But key party leaders in the state, desperate to turn… Continue reading

“Lawsuit asks Ohio Supreme Court to block abortion rights measure from November ballot”

July 30, 2023, 6:13 amdirect democracyDan Tokaji

Cleveland.com: After an abortion rights amendment qualified to appear on the November ballot in Ohio, a new lawsuit from Republicans asks the Ohio Supreme Court to block the measure. Filed on Friday, the challenge argues that the abortion rights… Continue reading

“The Ohio GOP’s bold abortion gambit has imploded”

July 26, 2023, 4:59 amabsentee ballots, direct democracyDan Tokaji

The Fix on the August ballot measure that would raise the threshold for amending the state constitution from 50% plus one to 60%, in order to make it more difficult to enact an abortion rights initiative later this year: It… Continue reading

Opting Out of California’s New Ballot Transparency Law

July 24, 2023, 4:54 amdirect democracyDan Tokaji

Marin Independent Journal reports: AB 1416, which became effective in January, requires that the supporters and opponents of statewide and local measures be listed on ballots. However, the law allows counties to opt out of participating. On Tuesday, Marin County… Continue reading

Strong Early Voting on Ohio’s Issue 1

July 23, 2023, 5:53 amabsentee ballots, direct democracyDan Tokaji

WKYC: As the August 8 special election for Issue 1 in Ohio approaches, many voters are taking advantage of early voting. According to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, as of Wednesday, 155,000 absentee ballots have been cast so… Continue reading

“Changes to Ohio voter ID law will impact August 8 election. Here’s how”

July 20, 2023, 3:32 pmdirect democracy, voter idDan Tokaji

From States Newsroom: To get to the ballot box, voters need to keep in mind changes made to voter ID laws last year, in a late-night legislative move approved by Gov. Mike DeWine at the beginning of 2023. Those… Continue reading

“Another campaign complaint filed against opponents of Alaska ranked choice voting”

July 18, 2023, 12:43 pmalternative voting systems, direct democracyDan Tokaji

Alaska Public Media: On Monday, Alaskans for Better Elections filed a complaint against former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka, a nonprofit that she operates and Alaskans for Honest Elections, which is campaigning to repeal ranked choice voting in… Continue reading

“‘Hypocritical’ — Sec. of State LaRose apparently changes law to help Issue 1 supporters”

July 13, 2023, 11:48 amabsentee ballots, direct democracyDan Tokaji

News on the Republican-backed referendum that would raise the threshold for amending the state constitution in August, before an initiative to protect abortion rights can go before voters in November: “Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has seemingly changed the… Continue reading

“Billionaire-funded group driving effort to erode democracy in key US states”

June 23, 2023, 9:13 amdirect democracyRick Hasen

The Guardian: A Florida group primarily funded by an Illinois billionaire is driving the recent attacks on direct democracy in states such as Ohio, Missouri, South Dakota and Arkansas. The Foundation for Government Accountability, a Florida-based group affiliated with… Continue reading

“Ohio GOP passes amendment to make ballot initiatives harder, but voters get to weigh in first”

May 11, 2023, 5:41 amdirect democracyEntrenchment, independent redistricting commissions, Political ResponsivenessTabatha Abu El-Haj

Daily Kos: Following the playbook of several other Republican legislatures, the Ohio legislature is seeking to make the initiative process harder for voters. This is, in my view, the most pernicious iteration of the on-going anti-democratic entrenchment playbook.… Continue reading