By Princess Umodu
With 149 statewide measures (and counting), it is no surprise that some measures are similar.
The real surprise comes when similar measures appear on the same ballot. In California, Missouri and South Dakota, at least two ballot measures are competing measures, meaning they concern the same issue.
Some of those competing measures have opposing goals in mind, whereas others flow in the same policy direction. So, come November, voters will be asking “if both measures win, which one wins?”
Voters in California will face two sets of truly competing measures, one set regarding the plastic bag ban passed in 2014 and one set regarding the death penalty. In both of those cases, the measures will have opposing results. On the plastic bag ban side, one measure repeals the ban while the other maintains the ban and adds a stipulation that proceeds from the reusable bag fees must go to an environmental fund.
The death penalty measures are equally opposite. One would repeal the death penalty altogether in California, and the other would revise the process, aiming to speed it up.
On the other hand, South Dakota and Missouri’s paired measures seem to have the same intended effect, until you read the fine print.
Both of South Dakota’s measures would cap interest rates for money lenders (e.g. payday lenders), but through differing methods. One makes a law capping interest rates at 36 percent. The other adds an amendment to the constitution limiting statutory caps (like the one proposed in the other initiative). It also institutes an 18 percent cap on interest rates, but includes a provision to allow lenders to set higher interest rates if the person receiving the loan signs a form indicating that they agree to the higher rates. This second measure is being heavily supported by the payday lending industry.
Missouri’s related measures would both increase cigarette taxes. One puts the increased revenue from the tax toward education, but only imposes the tax on certain cigarette companies, while the other imposes the tax on all cigarette and tobacco products and funnels the revenue into transportation infrastructure.
As related measures force citizens to read a little closer and think a little harder about their choices, they also force people to think about what happens if both measures pass.
Unlikely though it may seem, it's possible for California voters to say “yes” to both repealing the death penalty and making the process go faster. The same goes for the other paired measures. So, what happens then?
For 13 of the 26 states that allow some form of the initiative process, the answer is clear. The law states that whichever measures pass with the highest affirmative vote, win. Basically, if one measure gets 60 percent, but the other gets 75 percent, the 75 percent measure wins and will become law. California and Missouri are two of those 13 states.
For South Dakota, the future is not so clear, as no law or court decision seems to exist. Without legal clarity, these measures could end up in the courts, in the legislature, or any number of places. Given the uncertainty, for South Dakota and several other states as well, the question remains. If both win, who wins?
Princess Umodu is an intern in NCSL's Elections program.
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