Category Archives: direct democracy

Arizona Coalition Submits Signatures for Initiative to Expand Voter Registration and Early Voting

July 8, 2022, 4:27 amabsentee ballots, direct democracy, voter registrationDan Tokaji

WaPo: Citing efforts by Arizona’s Republican-controlled legislature to restrict access to voting, a coalition of advocacy organizations, community groups and volunteers is attempting to drastically expand voting rights in the battleground state through a ballot initiative. On Thursday, the… Continue reading

“A Systematic Assault”: GOP Rushes to Change Election Rules to Block Medicaid in South Dakota

June 1, 2022, 6:04 amdirect democracyEntrenchment, policy responsivenessTabatha Abu El-Haj

This article from Bolts Magazine demonstrates just how unabashed Republican efforts to entrench the party and its policies are at this political moment. In this instance, the goal is to prevent South Dakotans from side-stepping the Republican controlled legislature to… Continue reading

California Election Law Professors Brief Arguing that Proposition 22 (the Gig Workers) Initiative Violates the California Constitution

May 25, 2022, 3:43 pmdirect democracyRick Hasen

On behalf of Joey Fishkin, Franita Tolson, and me, and with co-counsel Kathryn Eidmann and Mark Rosenbaum of Public Counsel, we just filed this proposed amicus brief in the California Court of Appeal in the Proposition 22 case. Here’s the… Continue reading

“Voter ID, mail voting rollback ballot questions likely dead after court rulings”

April 26, 2022, 2:22 pmdirect democracy, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Nevada Independent: A pair of Carson City judges struck what appeared to be fatal blows to proposed GOP-backed voting initiatives on Monday, invalidating efforts to roll back the Democrat-backed universal vote by mail law passed in 2021 and… Continue reading

“Michigan Initiatives Clash on How to Stop GOP’s Election Deniers”

February 28, 2022, 10:17 amdirect democracy, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Steven Rosenfeld: A new front is opening in Michigan’s voting wars that raises fundamental questions about how far defenders of fact-based elections and representative government must go to protect voting rights in an era marked by Republicans who deny results… Continue reading

Electoral College changes before 2024?

December 15, 2021, 9:25 amdirect democracy, electoral college, UncategorizedNed Foley

I don’t believe I’ve seen mentioned on ELB the effort to put the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact on the ballot next November in Michigan. As the Detroit Free Press reported a couple of weeks ago, supporters of the measure… Continue reading

“Has California’s unique brand of direct democracy gone too far? Recall is ultimate test”

September 5, 2021, 9:01 pmdirect democracyRick Hasen

LAT: When California’s newly elected governor, Hiram Johnson, delivered his inaugural address on Jan. 3, 1911, he made a radical proposition.My first duty, Johnson declared on that celebratory day, “is to eliminate every private interest from the government and to… Continue reading

“‘Tyranny of the minority’: Idaho Supreme Court rules voter initiative law unconstitutional”

August 23, 2021, 6:53 pmdirect democracyRick Hasen

Idaho Statesman: Idaho Supreme Court justices on Monday unanimously ruled the state’s new law on citizen-led ballot initiatives to be unconstitutional and said it infringed on the public’s right to enact laws outside of the Idaho Legislature.The opinion ruled… Continue reading

“Prop. 22 is ruled unconstitutional, a blow to California gig economy law”

August 23, 2021, 7:10 amdirect democracyRick Hasen

LAT: California’s giant ride-hailing and delivery companies suffered a setback Friday as a state Superior Court judge invalidated a 2020 ballot proposition that allowed Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and other app-based businesses to classify theirworkers as independent contractors.In a lawsuit… Continue reading

“Voters supported progressive policies on ballot initiatives. Republicans are pushing back.”

June 21, 2021, 6:27 amdirect democracyRick Hasen

NBC News: Some states have increased the number of votes required to pass ballot initiatives, while others expanded the spread of required petitioner signatures across the state to even bring it to the ballot. In other cases, legislators have put… Continue reading

“Let the People Rule: How Direct Democracy Can Meet the Populist Challenge”

May 31, 2021, 12:44 pmdirect democracyRick Hasen

John Matsusaka has written this book for Princeton University Press that is well worth your time. Here’s the description: Propelled by the belief that government has slipped out of the hands of ordinary citizens, a surging wave of populism is… Continue reading

“Republicans Move to Limit a Grass-Roots Tradition of Direct Democracy”

May 23, 2021, 4:26 pmdirect democracyRick Hasen

NYT: n 2008, deep-blue California banned same-sex marriage. In 2018, steadfastly conservative Arkansas and Missouri increased their minimum wage. And last year, Republican-controlled Arizona and Montana legalized recreational marijuana.These moves were all the product of ballot initiatives, a century-old fixture… Continue reading

“Citizen Ballot Initiatives: A New Tool for Election Reform”

February 26, 2021, 1:34 pmdirect democracyRick Hasen

Ash Center event March 4.

“Courts Are Taking Away One of Americans’ Best Options for Fixing Voting”

October 8, 2020, 7:44 amdirect democracyRick Hasen

David Daley for The Atlantic: In 2019, writing the decision for Common Cause v. Rucho, Chief Justice John Roberts closed off the federal courts as an avenue for addressing partisan gerrymandering. But, Roberts insisted, the Supreme Court’s decision did not… Continue reading