Can you explain how and why this process is becoming more difficult and why voters should be concerned?
For the last decade, we’ve witnessed a rise in ballot measures driven by the lack of progress on important issues in state legislatures and communities wanting to take power into their own hands. They use the ballot measure process to make the changes they want to see. Research at BISC revealed that voters have more confidence in the ballot measure process than other types of lawmaking. This is in part due to the trust they have in themselves and their communities to shape laws. We are watching communities push back on power, and now that power is responding by attempting to complicate the ballot measure process.
Some of the changes being made to the ballot measure process seem quite technical. Can you explain the reason for these changes and how they will affect the issues that families care about?
When we asked voters about adding more parameters to the process, initially they viewed it positively, because isn’t more participation in democracy a good thing? However, the perspective shifted when we explained the reasons behind these changes or their impacts. Raising signature requirements, for example, makes it costlier and harder for communities to propose measures that are vital to them. When we explain that this could block efforts to pass initiatives like minimum wage increases or other important policies, people start to connect the dots and understand the real implications.
Right now, it's crucial for communities to move beyond surface-level understanding and get to the root of why these changes are happening. People don’t want to lose the ability to make decisions that directly affect their lives. Clarifying these connections helps highlight the significance of technical changes to the ballot measure process.
In August 2023, Ohio State Issue 1 attempted to make it harder to pass ballot measures by proposing to end majority rule, allowing just 40% of voters to block a measure. But Ohioans saw through it. Despite typically low turnout for special elections, early voting indicated high engagement, with over 3 million voters ultimately rejecting Issue 1. And then voters turned out in even higher numbers in November, with more than 3.9 million Ohioans showing up to vote to protect reproductive freedom and legalize marijuana. This turnout was way higher than the usual 700,000 to one million people who typically vote in odd-year elections and serves as a powerful example of community resistance.
What should health funders and advocates be doing to support the ballot measure process?
Our ability to move policies in the United States is connected to our democracy. With democracy under threat, funders cannot afford to remain idle, as this right is intertwined with anything they aim to achieve—from protecting voting rights to reproductive justice to health equity.
Health funders and advocates must recognize that siloing issues is counterproductive. Collaboration across issues strengthens our movement. At BISC Foundation, a multi-issue organization, I've focused on racial justice and democratic rights throughout my career, now expanding into reproductive justice, guided by the words of Audre Lorde: “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” We should all be curious and connect with peers across issues to learn from the challenges and opportunities we share.
What motivates you to do this work? What gives you hope?
Young people give me hope. As an advocate and a mom, I see a younger generation with a greater moral clarity about what it means to be a good human than even I had as a student organizer. They don’t question that every single one of us in this world deserves to be free, and they’re unapologetic about that.
