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Ballot title
From Ballotpedia
A ballot title is the official language that a voter sees for a ballot measure on the ballot.
The National Conference of State Legislatures says, "The ballot title and summary are arguably the most important part of an initiative in terms of voter education. Most voters never read more than the title and summary of the text of initiative proposals. Therefore, it is of critical importance that titles and summaries be concise, accurate and impartial."[1]
HIGHLIGHTS
Requirements by state for citizen-initiated measures
States differ in whether the ballot title is written before the circulation period or after.
States also differ with whether the ballot title is determined by the state government (a commission, a ballot title determination board, the Secretary of State, or some other Elections official) or whether the ballot title is determined by the sponsors that are advocating for the measure.
The following map provides information on ballot titles for states with citizen-initiated measures:
Ballot title information for citizen-initiated measures
The following table outlines the ballot title drafting and approval process for states with citizen-initiated measures:
| Comparison of ballot title drafting components of citizen-initiatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State | Ballot title drafted by | Ballot title written before or after signature circulation | Law |
| Alaska | Title and summary drafted by lieutenant governor and attorney general | Pre-circulation | Alaska Statutes, Sec. 15.45.180 and Alaska Statutes Sec. 15.45.240 |
| Arizona | Descriptive title and summary drafted by secretary of state, approved by attorney general | Post-circulation | Arizona Revised Statutes, Title 19, Ch. 1, Art. 3, 19-125 |
| Arkansas | Ballot title drafted by secretary of state | Pre-circulation | Arkansas Code, Title 7, Ch. 9-114 |
| California | Ballot title drafted by the attorney general | Pre-circulation | California Election Code, Sections 9050-9053; Sections 9060-9069; 9087, Section 9092 and California Government Code, Section 88003 |
| Colorado | Ballot title assigned by the ballot board | Pre-circulation | Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 1, Article 5, Section 407; Article 40, Section 115; Article 40, Section 124.5 and Colorado Constitution, Article V, Section 1, ¶ 7.5 |
| Florida | Ballot title drafted by initiative sponsors, approved by secretary of state and state supreme court | Pre-circulation | Florida Statutes, Title IX, Chapter 100.371, Section 4 and Chapter 101.161, Section 2-3 |
| Idaho | Ballot title designated by secretary of state | Pre-circulation | Idaho Statutes, Title 34, Chapter 18, Section 34-1802 and Section 34-1810 |
| Illinois | Ballot title rewritten by attorney general, submitted to secretary of state | Pre-circulation | Illinois Compiled Statutes, 5 ILCS 20/2 |
| Maine | Ballot title written by secretary of state | Pre-circulation | Maine Revised Statutes, Title 21-A, Chapter 11, §902, Chapter 11, §906, and Chapter 5, §354 |
| Massachusetts | Ballot title drafted by proponents and a summary drafted by the secretary of the commonwealth, reviewed by attorney general | Pre-circulation | Massachusetts Constitution, Article LXXIV, Section 1; Code of Massachusetts Regulations, Title 950, Section 48.04 ; Massachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title VIII, Chapter 54, Section 53 and Massachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title VIII, Chapter 54, Section 42A |
| Michigan | Summary is drafted by the Director of Elections and approved by the Board of State Canvassers | Post-circulation | Michigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 168, Section 474 and Section 474a |
| Mississippi | Ballot title prepared by attorney general | Pre-circulation | Mississippi Code, Title 23, Chapter 17, Section 9 |
| Missouri | Ballot title prepared by the secretary of state, state auditor and attorney general | Pre-circulation | Missouri Revised Statutes, Title IX, Chapter 116, Section 116.025 ; Section 116.180 ; Section 116.210 ; Section 116.22 and Section 116.334 |
| Montana | Ballot title prepared by attorney general | Pre-circulation | Montana Code, Title 13, Chapter 27, Section 202, Section 312 and Section 501 |
| Nebraska | Ballot title prepared by attorney general | Post-circulation | Nebraska Revised Statutes, Chapter 32, Section 1410 (1-2) |
| Nevada | Ballot title written by the secretary of state in consultation with the attorney general | Post-circulation | Nevada Revised Statutes, Chapter 293, Sections 250-252 |
| North Dakota | Ballot title drafted by secretary of state, submitted to attorney general for approval | Pre-circulation | North Dakota Constitution, Article III, Sections 1-10 and North Dakota Century Code, Title 16.1, Chapter 1, Sections 7-17 |
| Ohio | Ballot language prescribed by Ohio Ballot Board | Pre-circulation | Ohio Constitution, Article II, Section 1g ; Ohio Constitution, Article XVI, Section 1 and Ohio Revised Code, Title XXXV, Chapter 3519.03 |
| Oklahoma | Ballot title approved by the secretary of state and attorney general | Post-circulation | Oklahoma Statutes, Title 34, Section 34-7 |
| Oregon | Ballot title drafted by attorney general and filed to the secretary of state | Pre-circulation | Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 251.185 - 251.235 and Chapter 250.035 - 250.085 and 250.115 - 250.125 |
| South Dakota | Ballot title drafted by attorney general and filed to the secretary of state | Pre-circulation | South Dakota Codified Laws, Title 12, Chapter 13, Sections 4, 11 and 25.1 |
| Utah | Ballot title drafted by Utah Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel | Post-circulation | Utah Code, Title 20A, Chapter 6, Section 107 and Chapter 7, Section 209 and Section 202.5 |
| Washington | Ballot title drafted by attorney general | Pre-circulation | Revised Code of Washington, Title 29A, Chapter 72, Section 050 and Section 290 and Chapter 32, Section 060 |
| Wyoming | Ballot title prepared by secretary of state with assistance from attorney general | Post-circulation | Wyoming Statutes, Title 22, Chapter 24, Sections 317 |
Legislation
The following is a list of bills passed, beginning in 2016, related to ballot titles:
2023
- Arkansas House Bill 1320: The bill required initiative sponsors to submit drafts to the Arkansas attorney general, rather than the Board of Election Commissioners. Under HB 1320, the attorney general is responsible for approving, rejecting, or substituting the ballot title and popular name for each initiative within 10 days of receiving a draft.
- California Assembly Bill 421: The legislation made changes to the veto referendum process in California, including:[2]
- replacing "Yes" and "No" with “Keep the law” and “Overturn the law,” respectively. Before AB 421, when a veto referendum appeared on the ballot, voters could select “Yes” or “No”. A “Yes” vote had the effect of upholding a bill, and a “No” vote had the effect of repealing the bill.
- requiring the ballot title for veto referendums to be formatted as a question, rather than a statement. The question shall be formatted as follows: “Should California keep or overturn a law passed in [year statute was enacted] [no more than 15 words stating the general subject or nature of the law]?”
- presenting the top three funders of the petition drive to repeal the law in the voter information guide.
- allowing veto referendum proponents to withdraw their qualified referendum within a certain number of days before the election.
2022
- Colorado Senate Bill 222 (Proposition GG): Voters approved SB 222 as Proposition GG on November 8, 2022. The legislation required the ballot titles and fiscal impact summaries for initiatives that affect income taxes to include information on how the change would affect income taxes for different categories of income.[3]
- Utah Senate Bill 38: The legislation redesigned the language that appears on the ballot for state ballot initiatives. Previously, a ballot title was prepared for each citizen-initiated ballot measure. Under SB 38, a ballot title to not exceed 25 words and a ballot summary to not exceed 125 words are prepared.[4]
2021
- Colorado House Bill 1321: The legislation required certain language, including a list of public programs that could be affected, to be used for the ballot titles of ballot initiatives increasing or reducing tax revenue.[5]
- Montana Senate Bill 113: The legislation provided that statute section numbers do not count toward the 100-word limit for the ballot titles of legislatively referred ballot measures.[6]
- Oklahoma Senate Bill 947: The bill required that initiative sponsors include a fiscal impact statement in a proposed ballot title when a proposed initiative will have a fiscal impact on the state. Under SB 947, the fiscal impact statement also needs to include information about potential funding sources, such as federal funding, legislative appropriation, or a new tax.[7]
- South Dakota Senate Bill 123: The legislation created a 10-day comment period for the attorney general's draft ballot title and summary.[8]
2020
- Florida Senate Bill 1794: The legislation made several changes to the laws governing the initiative process in Florida, including:[9]
- making signatures invalid after February 1 of even-numbered years each cycle instead of allowing signatures to remain valid for a period of two years;
- increasing the signature threshold to trigger a court review of an initiative petition from 10% to 25% of the total required signatures and in half of the state's congressional districts;
- requiring the Florida Supreme Court to review whether a proposed amendment is "facially invalid under the United States Constitution" in addition to existing requirements for reviewing the ballot title and reviewing the initiative for compliance with the state's single-subject rule;
- requiring petitioners to reimburse counties for the actual cost of verifying signatures, rather than the then-existing fee of 10 cents per signature or the actual cost, whichever is less.
- providing 60 days, rather than 30 days, for elections supervisors to validate signatures, except within 60 days from the deadline;
- allowing citizens to challenge the registration of a paid circulator; and
- requiring specific statements concerning the impact of the measure on the state budget (negative, positive, or indeterminate) to be included on the ballot, among other changes.
2019
- Arkansas Senate Bill 346: The legislation transferred the power to approve a filed initiative, including the initiative's ballot title and popular name, from the attorney general to the Arkansas Board of Election Commissioners. SB 346 also changed the timeline for certifying a ballot title and popular name until after the required number of signatures have been submitted.[10]
- UtahSenate Bill 151: The legislation enacted new requirements for initiative fiscal impact statements and information:[11]
- requiring initiative petitions to contain information on funding sources, including percentages, for the costs associated with the proposed law;
- requiring the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst, rather than the Governor's Office of Management and Budget, to prepare the fiscal impact statement for an initiative;
- requiring fiscal impact statements to be displayed at required public hearings on initiatives; and
- allowing courts, in addition to the Utah Supreme Court, to consider challenges regarding ballot titles.
2018
- Oklahoma House Bill 2827: The legislation required that within 10 days after the attorney general reviews and files the ballot title for an initiative or referendum, the secretary of state must file the title with the State Election Board.[12]
- Oregon Senate Bill 1510: The legislation made several changes to election policies in Oregon, including requiring that the final certified ballot title be included on the initiative petition signature sheets and limiting the number of signatures that could be included on a state initiative petition to 2,000.[13]
- Utah House Bill 491: The legislation provided that the Legislature can submit non-binding questions to voters by passing a joint resolution. The legislation provided that the official title for statewide non-binding advisory questions is Nonbinding Opinion Question #___, with a number assigned where the blank is.[14]
2017
- Utah Senate Bill 69: This legislation was designed to require the following information to be provided to voters in a municipality with a proposition on the ballot in certain prescribed ways—including by mail, electronically, and online:
- the ballot title of the proposition;
- instructions about how to filed arguments in support of or opposition to the proposition;
- the deadlines for submitting such arguments.
- Utah House Bill 255: This legislation was designed to require a disclosure statement concerning the percentage of the tax increase to be added to the following items:
- the notice of the public hearing on the initiative;
- the fiscal impact statement;
- the voter information pamphlet; and
- the ballot title.
2016
- California Assembly Bill 884: This legislation was designed to apply to "statewide initiatives that the Attorney General has determined would likely result in a violation of an individual’s constitutional rights." This bill was designed to require signatures to be included in public records and accessible to public inspection. It was also designed to require the Attorney General to include his opinion that the initiative would violate constitutional rights in the ballot label and ballot title on the petition and requires a statement explaining that a signature attached to the petition would be subject to the California Public Records Act. It also removed a provision in California elections law that prohibits petition signatures from being used for any other purpose than to qualify an initiative for the ballot. This proposal was introduced partly in response to the “Sodomite Suppression” Initiative filed in 2015.
Lawsuits
The following is a selection of case law and litigation about ballot titles.
2022
No Bans on Choice et al. v. Ashcroft
On February 8, 2022, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that state law prohibiting signature gathering for a veto referendum before the referendum's official ballot title is certified violates citizens' constitutional rights to use the referendum process. The 3-2 opinion upheld a lower court's ruling, which held that the statutes "dramatically reduce the time available for the circulation of a referendum petition, both in theory and in practice." As of 2022, veto referendum campaigns in Missouri had 90 days following the legislature's adjournment to submit enough valid signatures for a veto referendum. The challenged statutes permitted the government to take up to 51 days to prepare an official ballot title, leaving campaigns with "39 days under the worst-case scenario" to collect signatures, according to the court.[15]
The No Bans on Choice Committee and ACLU filed the litigation after suspending their signature drive for a veto referendum, saying there was insufficient time. The organizations were supporting a referendum against House Bill 126 (HB 126), which included an eight-week abortion ban except in the case of medical emergencies.[16]
On December 4, 2020, Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem ruled that Missouri could not prohibit campaigns from gathering signatures prior to receiving a certified ballot title.[17] The ruling was appealed to the state Supreme Court.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Preparation of a ballot title and summary
- ↑ California State Legislature, "Assembly Bill 421," accessed September 9, 2023
- ↑ Colorado State Legislature, "Senate Bill 222," accessed June 14, 2023
- ↑ Utah State Legislature, "Senate Bill 38," accessed June 14, 2023
- ↑ Colorado State Legislature, "House Bill 1321," accessed June 20, 2023
- ↑ Montana State Legislature, "Senate Bill 113," accessed June 21, 2023
- ↑ Oklahoma State Legislature, "Senate Bill 947," accessed June 21, 2023
- ↑ South Dakota State Legislature, "Senate Bill 123," accessed June 21, 2023
- ↑ Florida State Senate, "Senate Bill 1794," accessed June 22, 2023
- ↑ Arkansas State Legislature, "Senate Bill 346," accessed June 23, 2023
- ↑ Utah State Legislature, "Senate Bill 151," accessed June 27, 2023
- ↑ Oklahoma State Legislature, "House Bill 2827," accessed June 28, 2023
- ↑ Oregon State Legislature, "Senate Bill 1510," accessed June 28, 2023
- ↑ Utah State Legislature, "House Bill 491," accessed June 28, 2023
- ↑ Missouri Supreme Court, No Bans on Choice et al. v. Ashcroft, February 8, 2022
- ↑ Idaho Statesman, "Missouri referendum petition laws ruled unconstitutional," December 7, 2020
- ↑ Idaho Statesman, "Missouri referendum petition laws ruled unconstitutional," December 7, 2020
