Shaping the Future: Key Ballot Measures in the 2024 Election

Transcript

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So please be sure to take time to research what's on your specific ballot on November 5th so you know how you're going to vote going into the polls or as you receive your absentee ballot.

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This will help reduce the possibility of the ballot language on the actual ballot tripping you up and leading you to vote the opposite way you were intending, like we just described for Issue 1 in Ohio.

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That's how they get you.

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Welcome back to the United she Stands podcast, the show that brings kindness and women into politics.

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I'm Ashley.

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And I'm Sarah, and we're two women from Ohio who are here to become more educated about American politics and build a community so we can all get involved and make an impact together.

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We hope we'll inspire and empower you along the way.

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Hi friends, welcome back to another episode of the United she Stands podcast.

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Today we're taking a step back from the national politics we've been focusing on the past handful of episodes to talk about critical state measures and races to pay attention to this election season.

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In this episode we're going to specifically talk about significant ballot measures that states can expect to see on their respective ballots this November and, believe it or not, there's a lot of important things that are going on on's ballots in addition to the already super important presidential race.

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This election season truly be wildin' it is.

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It's a big one.

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It's huge, ginormous.

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So, as we mentioned in the intro, we're going to be talking about ballot measures across the country, but let's first define what a ballot measure is.

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In the US, a ballot measure is a law, issue or question that appears on a statewide or local ballot for voters of that jurisdiction to decide.

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Most of the laws governing ballot measures are state laws.

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As there is no federal ballot measure process, this means the process for ballot measures varies depending on the state.

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Who's shocked?

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Anybody?

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Nope.

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Another useful definition here is ballot initiative, which is a citizen-initiated ballot measure.

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Let's quickly talk about the ballot initiative process.

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This process allows citizens to propose statutes or constitutional amendments, depending on the state, and collect signatures to place their proposals on the ballot for voters to decide.

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Some states have an indirect process in which legislators have the option to approve the proposals outright.

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Other names for ballot initiatives include popular initiatives, citizen initiatives and citizen referendums.

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A citizen-initiated ballot measure can be an initiated state statute, initiated constitutional amendment or a veto referendum.

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A veto referendum is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that asks voters whether to uphold or repeal an enacted law.

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Legislatures can also put laws on the ballot for voters to decide.

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These ballot measures are called legislative referrals.

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Okay, I think we're caught up to speed now.

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Yeah, great.

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Let's talk about the ballot measures in this upcoming election.

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As of September 28, 2024, 160 statewide ballot measures have been certified for the ballot in 41 states for elections in 2024.

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From 2010 to 2022, the average number of statewide ballot measures in an even-numbered year was 161.

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So this year is really right at that average.

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There are several main topics from the 160 ballot measures this election, and these include abortion, voting rights, electoral systems, wages and marijuana.

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So let's start with our fave abortion ballot measures.

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And yes, of course, it's our favorite because Ohio passed a ballot measure protecting abortion and reproductive freedom last fall and we're still riding that high and are absolutely bringing that energy into this election.

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We are All right.

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So a little fun fact here Abortion has been a topic for statewide ballot measures since the 1970s.

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In 2022, when Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Org overturned Roe v Wade, there were a record number of abortion-related measures on state ballots.

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That year, abortion was on the ballot in six states California, michigan, vermont, kansas, kentucky and Montana.

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And guess what?

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Each of them was a win for reproductive freedom.

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Then, just like we said, we had good old Ohio in 2023, join that group of states that protected women's health care.

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All that to say, since Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022, each state with an abortion-related ballot measure voted to protect reproductive freedom in their respective state.

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This election day, november 5th 2024,.

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Did you hear that Election day is November 5th?

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November 5th is election day.

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Be sure to vote on or before election day, which is November 5th of this year, which is 2024.

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Whoops, okay, sorry, just wanted to get that through our listeners' heads real quick.

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Anyway, on election day, aka November 5th 2024, voters will decide on 11 abortion-related ballot measures, which is the most on record for a single year, beating the previous record of six.

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Like we just mentioned, 10 out of the 11 would provide for state constitutional rights to abortion, and these states are Arizona, colorado, florida, maryland, missouri, montana, nebraska, new York, nevada and South Dakota.

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An additional one in Nebraska would limit the time frame for when abortion can be performed to just the first trimester.

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So, yes, there are competing ballot measures in Nebraska, because the one would allow it to be up until fetal viability, which is about 23 to 24 weeks.

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But just wow, 11 abortion-related measures in one year.

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Now, if that doesn't scream, I want to make decisions about my own body without the government involved.

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Then I'm really not sure what does.

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Agreed, okay, so next let's talk about the voting race-related ballot measures.

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For some background here.

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In 1996, the US Congress passed a law prohibiting non-citizens from voting in federal elections, including elections for the US House, us Senate and presidential elections.

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This law does not apply to elections for state and local offices, though Bans on non-citizen voting at the state level have become more frequent since 2018.

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Voters in six states approved ballot measures banning non-citizens from voting from 2018 to 2022.

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All six of these measures passed with at least 63% of the vote, and these states include North Dakota, alabama.

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Florida, colorado and Ohio In this November's election.

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Don't forget November 5th 2024, eight state legislators referred constitutional amendments to the ballot to prohibit the state or local governments from allowing non-citizen voting.

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The eight states are Idaho, iowa, kentucky, missouri, north Carolina, oklahoma, south Carolina and Wisconsin.

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An interesting fact here as of June 2024, the District of Columbia and municipalities in California, maryland and Vermont have allowed non-citizens to vote in some or all local elections.

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Okay, our next main topic for ballot measures this year is the electoral systems and, more specifically, ranked choice voting.

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If you know, you know and if you don't, go listen to our episode with Kyle Herman to learn all about ranked choice voting, aka RCV, and how it can positively impact our democracy.

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On a record number of statewide ballot measures on RCV, In Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington DC, voters will decide on measures to adopt RCV.

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In Alaska, voters will decide on an initiative to repeal RCV, which was adopted in 2020.

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In Missouri, voters will decide on a constitutional amendment that would preempt RCV.

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There are other electoral system changes on the ballot, some of which could lead to the adoption of RCV.

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In Arizona, proposition 140 would replace partisan primaries with primaries in which candidates, regardless of partisan affiliation, appear on a single ballot and a certain number advance to the general election, such as top two or top four primaries.

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Rcv would also be used for anything above top two for single winner districts.

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Arizona Proposition 133, on the other hand, would not address RCV.

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Would also be used for anything above top two for single winner districts.

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Arizona Proposition 133, on the other hand, would not address RCV but would prohibit systems, one to adopt top four primaries and another to require majoritarian vote system for general elections, such as runoff elections or RCV.

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And lastly, in South Dakota, voters will decide on Amendment H, which would replace partisan primaries with top two primaries.

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All right.

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So another main ballot measure topic for the selection season is wages.

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Between 1996 and 2022, there were 28 ballot measures to increase a state's minimum wage.

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Voters approved 26 of those initiatives so almost 93% and rejected two about 7%.

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The last time voters rejected a minimum wage increase was in 1996, when measures were defeated in Missouri and Montana.

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In 2024, voters in Alaska, california, massachusetts and Missouri will decide on minimum wage initiatives.

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In Alaska and Missouri, the initiatives propose raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour, along with enacting paid sick leave requirements.

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In California, the measure would raise the state's minimum wage to $18 per hour.

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In Massachusetts, the ballot measure would increase the minimum wage for tipped workers to match the general minimum wage.

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Voters in Nebraska will also decide on an initiative to require paid sick leave for employees.

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There's also a measure in Arizona where voters will be asked to decide Proposition 138, which would allow tipped workers to be paid 25% less per hour than the minimum wage.

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And the last main topic we're going to talk about today is drumroll, please.

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Marijuana, marijuana, the Mary Jane the wacky weed.

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There are three states with marijuana ballot measures this election, and those are Florida, north Dakota and South Dakota.

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Florida Amendment 3, called the Marijuana Legalization Initiative, would legalize marijuana for adults 21 years old and older and allow individuals to possess up to three ounces of marijuana.

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North Dakota, initiated Measure 5 would legalize older and allow individuals to possess up to three ounces of marijuana.

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North Dakota, initiated Measure 5 would legalize recreational marijuana and allow individuals to possess up to one ounce of marijuana, four grams of concentrate and 300 milligrams of edibles.

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It would also allow individuals to grow three plants, with a limit of six plants per household.

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South Dakota, initiated Measure 29 would legalize the recreational use, possession and distribution of marijuana.

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If all three ballot measures pass, that would make recreational marijuana use legal in 27 states.

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That'd be 54% of the states All right.

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So we have covered now the main topics in which many of the year's state ballot measures will fall into Abortion, voting rights, electoral systems, wages and marijuana.

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But we'd be remiss if we didn't mention one extremely important ballot measure in Ohio that doesn't fall into these categories, especially since we know a big part of our audience lives here in Ohio.

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On November 5th 2024, yes, election day.

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I don't know.

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That might be the last time we remind you in this episode.

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Issue number one will be the same on all Ohioans' ballots.

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Issue number one will be the same on all Ohioans ballots.

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Issue number one is a proposed, nonpartisan, citizen-driven constitutional amendment known as Citizens, Not Politicians.

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It replaces Ohio's current redistricting process for legislative districts starting in 2026.

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The goal with this proposed amendment is to end gerrymandering.

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Gerrymandering.

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I could not like pause for that, okay.

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I know I appreciate that.

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So we would love to end Jerrymandering.

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Adoption requires a simple majority vote here in Ohio, so 50% plus one 51% of the votes.

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So, just to be clear, we will walk through what a yes vote means and what a no vote means.

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So voting yes supports creating the 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission, made up of Democratic, republican and Independent citizens who broadly represent the different geographic areas and sitting on the commission.

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It would require fair and impartial districts, by making it unconstitutional to draw voting districts that discriminate against or favor any political party or individual politician, and it would require the commission to operate under an open and independent process.

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So let's talk about a no vote, which is not what we should be doing, but we'll talk about it.

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If you vote no on this amendment, it will keep the power to draw legislative districts exclusively with our Ohio politicians.

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It allows politicians to draw maps that benefit a specific party and it allows map drawers to draw districts to benefit an incumbent or a certain candidate.

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Do we need a quick reminder on what gerrymandering is and why it's so bad?

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If not, we're going to do it anyway.

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Every 10 years, states redraw their legislative and congressional district lines following the census.

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Because communities change, redistricting is a crucial part to our democracy.

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Maps must be redrawn to ensure that districts are equally populated, comply with laws such as the Voting Rights Act and are otherwise representative of a state's population.

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Done right, redistricting is a chance to create maps that represent the people of specific districts.

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But sometimes the process is used to draw maps to manufacture election outcomes that are detached from the preferences of voters.

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So, rather than voters choosing their representatives, gerrymandering empowers politicians to choose their voters.

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So this tends to occur especially when line drawing is left to legislatures and one political party controls the process, as has become increasingly common.

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When that happens, partisan concerns almost invariably take precedent over all else.

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That produces maps where electoral results are virtually guaranteed, even in years where the party drawing maps has a bad year and not just one party is guilty of gerrymandering to give their party an advantage.

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Both Democrats and Republicans do this Point blank.

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Gerrymandering is a nonpartisan issue and is extremely undemocratic Overall.

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The Citizens, Not Politician Amendment, aka Issue 1, on Ohio ballots this November will end gerrymandering by empowering citizens, not politicians, to draw fair districts using an open and transparent process.

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So please vote yes on Issue 1, Ohio.

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Please, please, please, please, please, please, please.

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So, in summary, there's so much going on this election season, that's it.

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That's a summary.

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Okay, just kidding.

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But in summary, there are 160 state ballot measures throughout the country that will be on state ballots this November.

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Many of them can be categorized into the following buckets Abortion, voting rights, electoral systems, wages and marijuana and not politicians.

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Amendment again.

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Aka issue one, aka the anti-gerrymandering amendment, which we would love for all of our ohioan listeners to vote yes on.

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sorry on this note because, um, the ballot language is garbage on this.

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It's very deceiving.

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So just to call out.

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If you see it and it says like it's an amendment to do gerrymandering, it's lying to you.

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The republicans in charge are lying to you.

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You can read the full ballot.

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Yes, read the full ballot language so you understandering.

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It's lying to you.

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The republicans in charge are lying to you.

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You can read the full.

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Yes, read the full ballot language so you understand what it's doing.

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The summary at the top is trash and garbage.

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Same same stuff they pulled with the abortion amendment yes, exactly, and I have also seen signs in ohio that say vote no to end gerrymandering.

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That is also a flat-out lie.

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Please, please, please, vote yes on issue one and seriously, if you don't believe us, read the entire ballot initiative.

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Like Ashley said, the summary is garbage and that's the only thing you will see on your ballot that day.

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Yes, and what we're doing in Ohio?

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That amendment has been done in other states and it has proven that it reduces gerrymandering.

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So it's like Like.

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Michigan.

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Yes, like Michigan is a perfect example.

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You can look all of it up.

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Yes, go research our friend Big Gretchen's state.

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She's not our friend, but we would love for her to be our friend.

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Anyways, back to our summary here.

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160 ballot measures means that we a thousand and a billion percent did not cover them all.

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So just because we didn't cover them in this episode doesn't mean that they're not important.

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So please be sure to take time to research what's on your specific ballot on November 5th so you know how you're going to vote going into the polls or as you receive your absentee ballot.

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This will help reduce the possibility of the ballot language on the actual ballot tripping you up and leading you to vote the opposite way you were intending, like we just described for issue one in Ohio.

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That's how they get you.

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It is All right.

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So we hope this was helpful for everybody.

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Be on the lookout for part two of this episode, where we're going to continue to talk about other important things that are on state ballots.

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Also, don't forget election day is Tuesday, november 5th, and if you are not registered, be sure you're registered, because registration deadlines are way before that.

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We will catch you back here next week.

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Thank you, guys, woo.

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Thanks for joining us for today's episode.

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We really appreciate the support.

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We would also really appreciate it if you hit the follow button and share this episode with anyone you think would enjoy it.

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And we'd like to thank Kevin Tanner, who edited this episode.

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If you're interested in learning more about him and his services, his website and Instagram are in the show notes.

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With that, we'll see you next week.

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A citizen-initiated ballot measure can be an initiated state.

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Statute, statute.

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I can never say that fucking word.

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Statute, statute, statute, yeah, statute.

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I'm so Okay.

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In Montana, voters will decide on two electoral system measures, one to adopt, one to adopt top primary.

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Florida Amendment 3, called the Marijuana Legal.

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Now I can't, I just can't think of the word florida without florida I sang it like the whole drive yesterday.

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I was like nick, take me to florida this will say that you want the state to create the 15 member ohio citizens redistricting commission made up of Democratic Republican.

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You got it.

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I like I've been in real life the past three weeks and I still can't talk.

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This produced Matt.

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Fucking up.

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Florida.

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We're still supposed to finish in this one, matt, all right.