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Amid many bleak election results for progressives last fall, citizens advancing justice through state ballot initiatives stood as one beacon of hope. Ten states hosted ballot questions aimed at protecting abortion rights (seven passed into law), with Unitarian Universalists again playing vital roles in many.
Along with UUs’ state-level engagement, the Unitarian Universalist Association’s UU the Vote campaign made Arizona’s Proposition 139 a priority, partnering with Arizona for Abortion Access to organize in-person canvassing and help embed the right to abortion in Arizona’s state constitution. It passed by a whopping 22-point margin, and the campaign embodies UUA’s commitment to reproductive justice.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson ruling discarded federal protection of abortion rights, 17 states have hosted ballot questions that gave voters direct power to shape abortion policy. Fourteen of those became law, including “red state” initiatives with large UU involvement in Ohio, Kansas, and Kentucky.
Voters in 24 states can turn to the ballot initiative process to advance their concerns when lawmakers defy or ignore them. This process enables people to place a binding question on the ballot if they gather a requisite number of signatures. Depending on the state, ballot measures can create or revoke statutes and/or amend state constitutions.
Ballot Initiatives Advancing Justice
Voters also passed key economic justice and human rights measures. Among them:
- Alaskans passed aworkers’ rights package that includes paid leave and a minimum wage increase and prohibits employers from requiring employees to attend union deterrence meetings.
- Missouri voters approved a minimum wage increase to $13.75 an hour in 2025.
- Voters in Nebraska overwhelmingly approved paid sick leave and passed a veto referendum reversing state lawmakers’ bid to fund private school vouchers with $19 million annually.
- California, Colorado, and Hawaii voters stripped language from their state constitutions that banned same-sex marriages—solidifying a right that was protected only by statute.
Of course, citizen lawmaking does not always yield progressive outcomes. Voters in California and Massachusetts rejected ballot initiatives to elevate minimum wages for tipped workers. On the same day that Arizona secured abortion rights, voters also passed Proposition 314, a dangerous anti-immigrant law that allows police to arrest people solely on suspicion that they lack documentation.
Despite the occasional setbacks that direct democracy delivers to other UU values, a core UU principle is the right to a “democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.” As UUA Democracy Strategist Nora Rasman says, “Ballot questions are one imperfect way to practice more of our voices informing public policy.”
In Florida and Ohio, Minority Rule Strikes Back
On the other side, many regressive state politicians consider empowered voters as their enemies and are trying to consolidate minority rule by denying people a voice.
Amendment 4, which would have guaranteed abortion rights under Florida’s state constitution, won the support of 57 percent of voters, but under state law, citizen initiatives must surpass a 60 percent supermajority.
And prior to the vote, GOP officials abused state power in unprecedented ways to attack the pro-choice initiative. State police were sent to the homes of petition signers, who were then interrogated about the validity of their signatures. State funds were illegally deployed to spread anti-abortion messaging. And a state attorney attempted to intimidate TV stations into banishing ads produced and paid for by abortion rights advocates.
In Ohio, citizens placed an initiative on the ballot to thwart gerrymandering by shifting the power to create voting districts from partisan lawmakers to a nonpartisan commission. GOP officials altered the ballot summary to suggest the initiative would make the map-drawing process more partisan, deliberately confusing enough voters to defeat the initiative.
Post-election, the Ohio GOP passed a law stripping citizens of the ability to name their own initiatives, handing the Attorney General sole power to decide whether to accept or alter a citizen initiative’s title before petitioners can begin gathering signatures. This follows Ohio’s supreme court denying the AG lacked this unchecked power.
GOP officials in other states are following Florida and Ohio’s lead in stifling direct democracy. Already this year, bills are active in at least three more states that would impose 60 percent supermajority requirements for future ballot initiatives. And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis aims to effectively end grassroots initiatives by imposing insurmountable signature-gathering requirements.
Direct democracy has literally been a life-saving tool used to expand Medicaid, prevent dangerous forced births, and protect human rights. Enabling citizens to improve their own lives also serves as a last line of defense against minority rule at the state level.
As attacks on the initiative process escalate, UU the Vote will keep UUs informed and advocate for the future of direct democracy in the United States.