Voter rights are under attack through ballot initiative manipulation, report finds

American states are undermining voters’ rights across the country through the manipulation of the ballot initiative process — and they’re not hiding it either, a recent study showed.

The February report by the Election Reformers Network found elected officials have misled voters or blocked measures from reaching voters through their control of ballot drafting and other legislative actions.

From 2010 to 2023, state lawmakers and elected officials have changed or blocked more than 20% of voter-approved initiatives. Most recently in Ohio, officials rewrote a ballot summary in a way that twisted the proposal’s meaning and completely misled voters.

“States that have given voters’ the right to advance ballot initiatives need to protect that right against abuses by elected officials,” said ERN Executive Director Kevin Johnson in a release. “The will of the majority has been thwarted many times in many states.”

The report recommends a nonpartisan set of reforms, including banning the repeal of laws and amendments passed by voters through ballot measures, creating a chief election officer position and establishing impartial citizen-led boards to oversee the ballot initiative process.

This is the latest in a series of efforts by elected officials to restrict the use of ballot initiatives. In 2023, the Utah House approved an amendment that would require certain ballot initiatives to get support from at least 60% of voters, increasing the threshold from a simple majority. The same year, the Missouri House also moved to raise its threshold from 50.01% to 57%.

Related: States are Making it Harder for Ballot Initiatives to Pass

Read the full ERN report

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