Initiative Power

Mainland Republicans are trying to roll back the rights of citizens to pursue statewide ballot initiatives but island Democrats have never allowed it either.

Democrats seek to make referring a new corporate tax measure to the ballot more difficult by changing the law on electronic signature gathering.

Senate Bill 761, which seeks to restrict a popular way by which Oregonians get initiatives on the ballot, would help legislators keep tight control over what becomes – and what stays law. Legislators should trust their voters and reject this bill.

Democratic lawmakers are moving to more tightly regulate electronic petitions, which are becoming more popular for initiative, recall and referendum campaigns in Oregon.

The ruling by a three-judge panel is the most authoritative opinion yet in a monthslong battle over how Secretary of State Bev Clarno handles ballot measures.

Attacks on state-level ballot initiatives are the latest step in a strategy to wrest political power from voters and place it squarely in the hands of increasingly unaccountable politicians and special interests.

Legislative Republicans are asking voters to make it harder to put voter initiatives on the ballot.

The ballot measure process has been critical to the success of nonpartisan reforms across the country. However, according to new research by RepresentUs, 11 states have proposed over 60 laws to make i

The rising cost of paying people to gather signatures is a challenge.

Are legislatures rejecting the “will of the people” or fixing their unworkable laws?

As our representative system has become less democratic and more oligarchical, ballot initiatives have become more important to passing majoritarian legislation. The Left should take note and proceed accordingly.

Signature matching—which one expert described as “witchcraft”—could lead to thousands of legitimate ballots being thrown out.