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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Question 1, Non-Discrimination in City Business and Foreign State Affiliations Amendment (May 2025)
| Pittsburgh Question 1 | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic Local LGBTQ issues and Local charter amendments |
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| Status |
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| Type Referral |
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Pittsburgh Question 1 was on the ballot as a referral in Pittsburgh on May 20, 2025. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported adding a section to the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter which would prohibit "the discrimination on the basis of race, religion, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or expression, disability, place of birth, national origin or association or affiliation with any nation or foreign state in conducting business of the City." |
A "no" vote opposed adding a section to the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter which would prohibit "the discrimination on the basis of race, religion, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or expression, disability, place of birth, national origin or association or affiliation with any nation or foreign state in conducting business of the City." |
A simple majority was required to approve the measure.
Election results
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Pittsburgh Question 1 |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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42,430 | 68.25% | ||
| No | 19,743 | 31.75% | ||
Overview
What did this amendment do?
This amendment added a section to the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter which prohibited "the discrimination on the basis of race, religion, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or expression, disability, place of birth, national origin or association or affiliation with any nation or foreign state in conducting business of the City."
Was this amendment in response to a citizen initiative?
Along with another amendment passed by the city council, these measures were placed on the ballot in response to a citizen initiative that could have appeared on the same ballot. The proposed citizen initiative would have established an investment policy that diverts funds from governments and entities engaged in genocide, ethnic cleansing, or apartheid. The ballot initiative was withdrawn, however.
Councilmember Erika Strassburger (D), who proposed both charter amendments passed by city council, said, "[The measures are in] direct response to what I see as a threat to our ability as public servants to be able to fulfill the tasks that the public expects of us." She further said, "The intention of this bill was to draw attention to the fact that we believe that the proposal being put forth … would inadvertently force the city to discriminate in a way that we don't believe that it should. I do respect the desire to keep taxpayer money from supporting human rights abuses. I believe that these proposals that we’ve seen from the Not On Our Dime are fraught with what I consider ill-defined standards and unreasonably sweeping reaches."[1]
In response, Not On Our Dime, the campaign that supported the citizen initiative, said the measures by the city council and their citizen initiative did not conflict with one another, saying, "We are happy to see that the City Council is interested in implementing stronger anti-discrimination policy. We too are opposed to discrimination, not only in our city but across the world. We are trying to keep our tax dollars from funding countries that take discrimination to extremes like apartheid and ethnic cleansing. We are glad to see the City Council giving voters more opportunities to participate in policymaking, and we look forward to voters getting to decide on Council’s referred referendums as well as our citizen-led referendum this May."[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Question 1 was as follows:
| “ | "Shall the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter, Article One, Home Rule Powers - Definitions, be supplemented by adding a new Section, "105. Local Governance", by prohibiting the discrimination on the basis of race, religion, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or expression, disability, place of birth, national origin or association or affiliation with any nation or foreign state in conducting business of the City?" | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Support
Supporters
Political Parties
Organizations
Arguments
You can share campaign information or arguments, along with source links for this information, at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Opposition
Ballotpedia has not located a campaign in opposition to the ballot measure. You can share campaign information or arguments, along with source links for this information, with us at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
Ballotpedia did not identify and campaigns supporting or opposing the initiative.[2]
| Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions | Cash Expenditures | Total Expenditures | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Oppose | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Total | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Background
The following table provides a list of local ballot measures related to boycotts and divestments from governments or enterprises:
| Jurisdiction | State | Type | Title | Description | Result | Yes Votes | No Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh | PA | Question 1 | Add a section to the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter which would prohibit "the discrimination on the basis of race, religion, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or expression, disability, place of birth, national origin or association or affiliation with any nation or foreign state in conducting business of the City." |
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42,430 (68%) |
19,743 (32%) |
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| Pittsburgh | PA | Question 3 | Prohibit the use of the home rule charter amendment process to "add duties or obligations beyond lawful scope of the city's authority." |
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33,523 (56%) |
26,249 (44%) |
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| Brattleboro | VT | Article II | Advise the city government to adopt a pledge regarding Palestine and Israel |
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1,291 (57%) |
964 (43%) |
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| Montpelier | VT | Article 13 | Advise the city government to adopt a pledge regarding Palestine and Israel |
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887 (43%) |
1,181 (57%) |
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| Newfane | VT | Article 38 | Advise the city government to adopt a pledge regarding Palestine and Israel |
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46 (74%) |
16 (26%) |
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| Vergennes | VT | Article 7 | Advise the city government to adopt a pledge regarding Palestine and Israel |
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162 (29%) |
392 (71%) |
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| Winooski | VT | Article 5 | Advise the city government to adopt a pledge regarding Palestine and Israel |
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655 (72%) |
252 (28%) |
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| Urbana | IL | Question 1 | Advise officials to stop providing military funding to Israel |
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10,000 (70%) |
4,242 (30%) |
Path to the ballot
This measure, Ordinance 1425, was put on the ballot through a vote of the Pittsburgh City Council. On February 4, 2025, the Pittsburgh City Council voted 8-0 (with one absence) to place the measure on the ballot.[3]
How to cast a vote
- See also: Voting in Pennsylvania
See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in Pennsylvania.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 WESA, "Ballot questions that could block Israel divestment effort advance in Pittsburgh City Council," January 29, 2025
- ↑ Open Book Pittsburgh, "Search," accessed February 11, 2025
- ↑ The City of Pittsburgh, "2025-1425," accessed February 11, 2025
- ↑ Department of State, “First Time Voters,” accessed March 21, 2023
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Department of State, “Voter Registration Application,” accessed March 21, 2023
- ↑ Department of State, “Contact Your Election Officials,” accessed March 21, 2023
- ↑ Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, "Governor Shapiro Implements Automatic Voter Registration in Pennsylvania, Joining Bipartisan Group of States That Have Taken Commonsense Step to Make Voter Registration More Streamlined and Secure," September 19, 2023
- ↑ NBC, "Pennsylvania rolls out automatic voter registration," September 19, 2023
- ↑ The Patriot-News, “Thousands take advantage of new online voter registration in Pennsylvania,” September 2, 2015
- ↑ Under federal law, the national mail voter registration application (a version of which is in use in all states with voter registration systems) requires applicants to indicate that they are U.S. citizens in order to complete an application to vote in state or federal elections, but does not require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the application "may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate voter registrations and permit State officials both to determine the eligibility of the applicant to vote and to administer the voting process."
- ↑ Department of State, "First Time Voters," accessed March 21, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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