2002 Ballot Measures: An Overview

2002 Ballot Measures: A Preview

Voters will face a total of 202 measures on statewide ballots in November 2002. That breaks down to 49 citizen initiatives, four popular referenda, 144 legislative referenda, and five other measures. These measures ask voters' input on a wide array of issues. Some of the most common issues nationwide are education, elections, drug policy, tobacco settlement revenues, and taxes. For more detailed information on the issues on this year's ballots, visit NCSL's National Trends & Hot Issues page.

The 2002 Numbers in Historical Context

In comparison to the elections of the past decade, 2002 will be a quiet year for initiatives. The 49 initiatives and four popular referenda that will appear on statewide ballots in this November's election represent a sharp drop in numbers from just a few years ago.

Ballot Measure Totals, by Year*

	Initiatives	Popular Referenda
2002	49	4
2000	69	2
1998	55	6
1996	85	4
1994	68	7
1992	61	0
1990	57	4

* Totals do not include initiatives on special or primary election ballots.

There are different opinions on why the number of initiatives has dropped. Initiative advocates claim that increased regulation of the initiative process has prevented many initiatives from making the ballot, and that more proposed initiatives are challenged in court early in the process, preventing them from reaching the ballot. Others say that the decrease in public cynicism toward government in the wake of 9/11 has resulted in fewer initiatives. Whoever you believe, it's clear that the use of the initiative has been in a downward trend since 1996.

Ballot Measures in the 5 Highest-Use States, by Year

	2002	2000	1998	1996	1994	1992	1990	Total
OR	7	18	9	16	16	7	8	81
CA	4	4	7	12	5	7	13	52
CO	5	6	8	8	8	10	3	48
AZ	4	6	4	4	3	4	7	32
WA	2	6	4	4	1	2	1	20

Regulation of the Initiative Process

Since 1999, legislatures in the 24 initiative states have considered 317 bills to amend the initiative process. Not surprisingly, the five states with the highest use of the initiative have considered the most legislation.

States with the Most I&R Reform Legislation, 1999-2002

Place	State	Bills Introduced	Bills Enacted
1	Oregon	94	11
2	Washington	44	2
3	Arizona	21	5
3	California	21	4
4	Maine	19	0
5	Montana	15	3
6	Colorado	12	3

The majority of the bills enacted require more disclosure by groups paying for signature collection and those campaigning for and against initiative measures, or with the content of voter information pamphlets.

States have been largely unsuccessful in imposing the types of reforms that initiative advocates say make the process more difficult to use - increasing signature thresholds or increasing the percentage of "yes" votes required for passage of an initiative, for instance. And in the few instances where states have been successful, initiative advocates have met with equal success in the courts. In Idaho and Utah, for example, a recently-added requirement to the initiative process is that signatures must be gathered from around the state, not just in the capital city. Initiative advocates filed suit in both states, and courts in both states ruled the provisions unconstitutional, clearing the way for initiatives to reach the ballot.

A number of organizations have called for reforming the initiative in recent years, including NCSL, the California League of Women Voters, the City Club of Portland (Oregon), a California commission appointed by the Speaker of the House, a Nebraska task force, and the California Commission on Campaign Financing.

For more information on Initiative and Referendum - contact Jennie Drage Bowser elections-info@ncsl.org.