ballot measure

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Abortion Rights Victory in Florida Could Have 'Massive Implications'

Amendment to enshrine abortion access has enough signatures for 2024 ballot, pending other ruling

(Newser) - Voters in Ohio , Kansas , and other states have opted to enshrine abortion rights in their respective constitutions, and Florida may be next. The Tampa Bay Times reports that proponents have secured more than enough signatures to place on the 2024 ballot a constitutional amendment that would unravel the state's...

Ohio Election Official Puts 'Unborn Child' in Ballot Measure

'The entire summary is propaganda,' activist says

(Newser) - The Ohio Ballot Board approved language Thursday for a fall measure seeking to establish abortion access as a fundamental right, but one Democratic member blasted it as "rife with misleading and defective language." Key among opponents' objections is language developed by Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, an...

2 State Constitutions Allowed for Slavery. But No More
2 State Constitutions Allowed
for Slavery. But No More
ELECTION 2020
Nov 4, 2020 1:23 PM CST

2 State Constitutions Allowed for Slavery. But No More

Utah, Nebraska outlaw the practice, without exemptions

(Newser) - A person convicted of a crime in Utah or Nebraska could technically be punished with slavery under the state constitution, but no longer. Voters in both states chose to remove language describing the possible punishment on Tuesday. With passage of Amendment C, Article I, Section 21 of Utah's constitution—...

Rhode Island Voters to Decide on State's Name

Ballot measures also cover flag, minimum wage

(Newser) - More than 120 ballot measures could transform state policy this election. In two of those cases, the topic is abortion. In Colorado, Proposition 115 seeks to block abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy unless to save the life of the mother. That's the sole exception that would be provided,...

Michigan Votes to Legalize Recreational Marijuana
Michigan Says Yes, ND
Says No to Recreational Pot
BALLOT MEASURES
Nov 7, 2018 1:03 AM CST

Michigan Says Yes, ND Says No to Recreational Pot

Florida measure will restore voting rights to felons

(Newser) - Michigan is going to have the first legal recreational marijuana in the Midwest. The Detroit Free Press projects a comfortable victory for the ballot proposal to make the state the 10th to legalize recreational pot. A similar measure in North Dakota, however, appears destined for defeat, though Legalize ND campaigners...

San Francisco Will Vote on Tax to Help Homeless
SF Moves to Echo 'Amazon Tax' 
Jul 17, 2018 1:03 AM CDT

SF Moves to Echo 'Amazon Tax'

Measure to tax big businesses to fund homeless will be on the November ballot

(Newser) - San Francisco voters will decide in November whether to tax large businesses to pay for homeless and housing services, an issue that set off a battle in another West Coast city struggling with income inequality. The city elections department verified Monday that supporters had collected enough signatures to get the...

Colorado Votes for Right to Die
Colorado Votes for Right to Die
BALLOT MEASURES
Nov 9, 2016 7:27 AM CST

Colorado Votes for Right to Die

It's now 6th state to legalize assisted suicide

(Newser) - Proposition 106 has passed in Colorado, making the state the nation's sixth to legalize assisted suicide, reports 9NEWS . Adults who are terminally ill, with less than six months to live, and found to be mentally competent, can request life-ending medication—a high dose of secobarbital used in sleeping pills—...

Nebraska Votes to Bring Back Death Penalty
Nebraska Votes
to Bring Back
Death Penalty
BALLOT MEASURES
Nov 9, 2016 12:52 AM CST

Nebraska Votes to Bring Back Death Penalty

Lawmakers repealed penalty last year

(Newser) - The death penalty is back from the dead in Nebraska: Voters overwhelmingly supported a ballot measure to restore the penalty, which was abolished by state lawmakers last year , reports the AP . Around 61% of voters chose to "repeal the repeal" in the state, which had 10 people on death...

Ballot Initiatives Include Pot, Hunting, Executions
7 Other Things Americans
Are Voting On Today
THE RUNDOWN
Nov 8, 2016 4:33 AM CST

7 Other Things Americans Are Voting On Today

Pot, hunting, executions

(Newser) - If ballot measures are a reliable indicator of what a country cares about, America has been thinking a lot about pot: Various degrees of marijuana legalization are on the ballot in no fewer than nine states, in an election that features 162 ballot measures, 72 of which were citizen initiatives....

Ballot Measures: Oregon, DC Legalize Pot

 Marijuana 
 Now Legal in 
 3 More Places 
MIDTERM ELECTIONS
Nov 5, 2014 5:50 AM CST

Marijuana Now Legal in 3 More Places

Minimum wage increases pass in 3 states

(Newser) - Marijuana legalization advocates are on a roll: Ballot measures loosening pot laws have passed in Alaska , Oregon, and Washington, DC. The DC law—which could still be blocked by Congress—will allow residents and visitors to grow and possess marijuana but not sell it, reports the Washington Post , while the...

Voters OK Recreational Pot, Doom Astrodome
Voters OK Recreational Pot,
Doom Astrodome
BALLOT MEASURES
Nov 6, 2013 3:00 AM CST

Voters OK Recreational Pot, Doom Astrodome

Colorado backs marijuana tax

(Newser) - Portland, Maine—the Amsterdam of the East Coast? A measure to legalize marijuana for recreational use in the city has won in a landslide, reports the Portland Press Herald . The measure, which allows people over 21 to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, is a win for legalization...

Wash., Colo. Vote to Legalize Recreational Pot
 Wash., Colo. 
 Vote to Legalize 
 Recreational Pot 
BALLOT MEASURES
Nov 7, 2012 7:00 AM CST

Wash., Colo. Vote to Legalize Recreational Pot

But Oregon says no

(Newser) - Marijuana-related measures were on the ballot in six states and the weed's supporters scored major victories in Washington, Colorado, and Massachusetts. A look around the landscape:
  • Washington state has voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use, Bloomberg reports. The measure allows people over 21 to buy up to an
...

Maine Votes for Gay Marriage
 Maine, Maryland Approve Gay Marriage
BALLOT MEASURES
Nov 7, 2012 3:03 AM CST

Maine, Maryland Approve Gay Marriage

Minnesota rejects ban; Washington state too close to call

(Newser) - Maine and Maryland have made history by becoming the first states to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote, the AP reports. Minnesota voters turned down a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, although state law still forbids gays and lesbians from marrying, the New York Times reports. Washington state is also...

ObamaCare, Abortion on Swing-State Ballots

State measures provide 'symbolic catharsis for conservatives'

(Newser) - ObamaCare isn't just a hot topic at the federal level this election year. While Mitt Romney has vowed to reform it , some states are putting their opposition to ObamaCare directly on the ballot, the Hill reports. Florida, for example, is letting voters weigh in on the health care mandate,...

Oklahoma Court Blocks 'Fetal Personhood' Measure

'Clearly unconstitutional' ballot measure declared void

(Newser) - Oklahoma's Supreme Court has rejected a "clearly unconstitutional" ballot measure that would have defined a fertilized human egg as a person, effectively banning all abortions in the state. The nine justices decided unanimously that the measure should not make it onto the ballot this November because the US...

California to Vote on Death Penalty

Repeal measure makes it onto November ballot

(Newser) - Voters in California, home to nearly a quarter of America's death row inmates, will decide on abolishing the death penalty this November. A ballot measure on repealing the death penalty has received the necessary 500,000 signatures, reports the Los Angeles Times . The measure would make life imprisonment without...

'Regulate Marijuana Like Wine' Measure Circulating in Calif
New Pot Measure
Floating in Calif.
Jul 26, 2011 1:20 AM CDT

New Pot Measure Floating in Calif.

Initiative would treat weed like beer, wine

(Newser) - Voters in America's most populous state are likely to find the question of marijuana legalization on their ballots again next year. Supporters of the "Regulate Marijuana Like Wine" initiative have been given permission to start circulating petitions to get the measure on ballots next year, AP reports. The...

San Francisco May Vote on Circumcision Ban

Activists submit signatures for ballot initiative

(Newser) - Is San Francisco about to cut out circumcision? A group of "intactivists" hope so; they’ve submitted 12,265 signatures to the city’s Department of Elections in a bid to get a ban on the practice placed on the ballot this November, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. If...

Mass. Voters Reject Topless Proposal
Massachusetts Voters Reject Topless Proposal
UNUSUAL BALLOT MEASURES
Nov 4, 2010 3:43 AM CDT

Massachusetts Voters Reject Topless Proposal

Keep you shirt on, say people of Pittsfield

(Newser) - Massachusetts voters in Pittsfield don't want the town's women walking around topless. A ballot measure pushing for women's right to go topless in public anywhere that males can was defeated by a margin of more than 2 to 1, the Boston Globe reports. Voters speaking to the Berkshire Eagle on...

New 9/11 Probe Looks Headed for NYC Ballot

Group has enough valid signatures for Nov. referendum: city

(Newser) - A New York City group has secured enough valid signatures to put a referendum on the November ballot to force a new investigation into the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. A press release from the New York City Coalition for Accountability Now says city lawyers conceded today that at...

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