Everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, should have a fair chance to be as happy and healthy as possible. We all have a role in making this vision a reality and one way to do that is by improving public policy. Ballot measures can provide a direct way for citizens to shape state and local laws and policies that affect our health and wellbeing.
For example, in 2023 Ohioans set a record turnout for a special election to support a ballot measure that secured abortion rights through the state's constitution and set a new course for the country's fight for reproductive rights.
However, in several states it is becoming harder for people to use the ballot measure process. Some lawmakers are using various tactics to prevent critical measures from being placed on ballots. These tactics include increasing signature requirements, raising the thresholds needed to pass initiatives and mandating multiple votes for enactment.
Given our goal of dismantling structural racism and creating equitable systems for all, RWJF is investing in protecting the ballot measure process and partnering with organizations like the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation (BISC Foundation).
The BISC Foundation leverages ballot measures to strengthen democracy and center communities that have been pushed to the margins by systemic racism. Elizabeth DiLauro, senior policy officer at RWJF, spoke with Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, executive director at BISC Foundation and BISC, about how we can protect the ballot measure process so everyone can have a direct say on the policies that matter most to them.
At the BISC Foundation, we focus on shifting power to the communities most impacted by policy change. We believe a thriving democracy empowers people to determine the outcome of their own lives. The ballot measure process is a tool that can help them do that, even in spaces where power often feels limited. The ballot measure process sits at the center of our democracy by defining who has a say in policymaking, what equity looks like and if people have access to the resources for healthy lives.
We believe a thriving democracy empowers people to determine the outcome of their own lives. The ballot measure process is a tool that can help them do that, even in spaces where power often feels limited.
Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, executive director, BISC Foundation and BISC
For the last decade, we’ve witnessed a rise in ballot measures driven by the lack of progress on important issues in state legislatures and communities wanting to take power into their own hands. They use the ballot measure process to make the changes they want to see. Research at BISC revealed that voters have more confidence in the ballot measure process than other types of lawmaking. This is in part due to the trust they have in themselves and their communities to shape laws. We are watching communities push back on power, and now that power is responding by attempting to complicate the ballot measure process.
When we asked voters about adding more parameters to the process, initially they viewed it positively, because isn’t more participation in democracy a good thing? However, the perspective shifted when we explained the reasons behind these changes or their impacts. Raising signature requirements, for example, makes it costlier and harder for communities to propose measures that are vital to them. When we explain that this could block efforts to pass initiatives like minimum wage increases or other important policies, people start to connect the dots and understand the real implications.
Right now, it's crucial for communities to move beyond surface-level understanding and get to the root of why these changes are happening. People don’t want to lose the ability to make decisions that directly affect their lives. Clarifying these connections helps highlight the significance of technical changes to the ballot measure process.
In August 2023, Ohio State Issue 1 attempted to make it harder to pass ballot measures by proposing to end majority rule, allowing just 40% of voters to block a measure. But Ohioans saw through it. Despite typically low turnout for special elections, early voting indicated high engagement, with over 3 million voters ultimately rejecting Issue 1. And then voters turned out in even higher numbers in November, with more than 3.9 million Ohioans showing up to vote to protect reproductive freedom and legalize marijuana. This turnout was way higher than the usual 700,000 to one million people who typically vote in odd-year elections and serves as a powerful example of community resistance.
Our ability to move policies in the United States is connected to our democracy. With democracy under threat, funders cannot afford to remain idle, as this right is intertwined with anything they aim to achieve—from protecting voting rights to reproductive justice to health equity.
Health funders and advocates must recognize that siloing issues is counterproductive. Collaboration across issues strengthens our movement. At BISC Foundation, a multi-issue organization, I've focused on racial justice and democratic rights throughout my career, now expanding into reproductive justice, guided by the words of Audre Lorde: “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” We should all be curious and connect with peers across issues to learn from the challenges and opportunities we share.
Young people give me hope. As an advocate and a mom, I see a younger generation with a greater moral clarity about what it means to be a good human than even I had as a student organizer. They don’t question that every single one of us in this world deserves to be free, and they’re unapologetic about that.
Elizabeth DiLauro joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 2022 as senior policy officer. She brings expertise in devising advocacy strategies that drive policy change nationally and in states, including mobilization, grantmaking, communications, and coalition building.