Ballot Initiatives and Ballot Measures

For groups and organizations that are interested in getting a measure on the ballot, signature gathering can be a costly, time-intensive, and pain-staking affair. You’ll need to raise the money to pay an expensive field consultant to manage the process for you. There’s a steady unease about hitting your numbers, and all of this is compounded with the stress of knowing that the success of your effort hangs in the balance.

It was a great year to go to Vegas for BISC's Road Ahead conference. It’s always a good time to visit Vegas when its 12 degrees in DC. As we leave BISC, it is clear that progressive campaigns have some real challenges. While proactive ballot measures are an important tool to help change the dialogue on issues we care about, they are only one part of a broader set of tactics that progressive campaigns need to engage in.

Sometimes the most difficult part of a ballot measure campaign is qualifying a ballot measure for the the ballot. Advocacy and political organizations alike have long used the ballot measure (or referendum, question, initiative, etc., depending on where you’re from) as a tool to advance their mission. It’s a way to get the public involved with your issue, and to show widespread support if successful.

I’m sure it’s no surprise to any of you that last Tuesday Terry McAuliffe won the Gubernatorial election in Virginia – though the Attorney General race is still too close to officially call – and Chris Christie easily won re-election in New Jersey. It also likely doesn’t come as a surprise that Bill de Blasio wrapped up a big victory in his election as Mayor of New York City and that Marty Walsh, a former Labor organizer, and current State Representative, won in the first open race for Mayor of Boston in over twenty years. But, I’m guessing not as many people were paying attention to the various ballot initiatives around the country, including the Tea Party-backed Question 4 in Cincinnati that looked to overhaul (read: destroy) the public pension system in the city.