WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE BALLOT MEASURE LANDSCAPE RIGHT NOW
July 2026
The Toplines
- As of July 8, BISC is tracking a total of 213 ballot measures, with 127 measures certified for the 2026 ballot.
- BISC continues to monitor 209 active bills related to direct democracy as of July 1. At least 77 of these feature some level of attack on the People’s Tool.
- State advocates are using ballot initiatives to defend direct democracy amid ongoing attacks on the process.
- An extreme legislatively-referred ballot measure in Missouri could make it nearly impossible to pass citizen-led constitutional amendments.
- In Utah, a legislatively-referred measure is attempting to require supermajority support to pass any tax-related measures proposed by citizens.
- Unhappy with years of successful progressive ballot initiatives, extremist lawmakers are pushing for a double-standard to put citizen-led efforts at a disadvantage.
- There’s still time to sign up for Roadtrip to Victory, BISC’s free virtual summer training series running until Labor Day!
Emerging Trend
Using the Initiative Process to Protect the People’s Tool
Direct democracy advocates around the country are working to protect the People’s Tool amid a rash of attacks that includes this year’s anti-initiative measures, which feature several proposed supermajority requirements and an especially dangerous measure in Missouri set to appear in the August 4 primary. (Not to mention the recent state laws that have cracked down on citizen-led efforts around the country, including a notoriously extreme bill in Florida that actually prevented any initiatives from qualifying for this year’s ballot.)
Groups are fighting back in the courts, their state legislatures, and at the ballot box — including in Arkansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.
Using the People’s Tool to defend the People’s Tool? There’s no denying the poetic justice. But this work extends beyond poetry and gets to the gritty roots of direct democracy in America. Ballot initiative processes were established as a means of people-led power during an age when lawmakers’ actions were disproportionately dictated by the whims of railroad barons, oil tycoons, and copper kings. A century later they continue to be a critical form of collaborative governance, allowing communities to propose our own life-changing policies when our lawmakers cannot or will not.
Unfortunately, it comes as no surprise amid rising authoritarianism that some lawmakers and special interests are attacking this critical democratic process. They are afraid of the ballot initiative as a long-term power-building tool, so they’re trying to take it away from us. While this year’s ballots include a mixed bag of citizen-led protections and legislatively-referred threats, together we can block these bad faith attacks, defend direct democracy, and protect our power to continue building the America we deserve.
2026 Ballot Measure Landscape
As of July 8, BISC is tracking a total of 213 proposed ballot measures, including 127 measures certified for remaining 2026 ballots. That includes 8 measures appearing on primary ballots in Alaska, Missouri, and Oklahoma.
2026 Ballot Measures to Watch: Civil Rights
Issue: Direct Democracy
Missouri Amendment 4: Concurrent Supermajority Requirement for Citizen-Led Amendments (LR)
What It Does: This measure would require that any citizen-led ballot initiative proposing a constitutional amendment would have to receive majority support both statewide and in each congressional district in order to pass. (Legislatively-referred amendments would still need only a simple majority.) The measure also bars foreign nationals from donating to ballot measure campaigns and gives the Missouri attorney general the exclusive authority to prosecute petition fraud.
Why It Matters: The amendment adds minority rule to the Missouri constitution, enabling as few as 5% of the state’s voters to crush a popular measure. Under the proposal, past initiatives like Medicaid Expansion and restored abortion rights would have failed. While 60% supermajority requirements in states like Florida have made it incredibly difficult to pass initiatives, no other state laws even come close to Amendment 4’s extreme standards.
Utah SJR 2: Supermajority Requirement for Tax-Related Ballot Initiatives (LR)
What It Does: This constitutional amendment requires that any tax-related citizen-initiated ballot measures must pass by at least 60% in order to take effect. Legislatively-referred measures would not be affected and would continue to pass with a simple majority.
Why It Matters: This is thought to be the latest step in an ongoing strategy to make all of Utah’s citizen-led initiatives harder to qualify and pass. Following increased petition requirements and together deadlines, this proposal comes as extremist lawmakers grow more frustrated over state courts blocking their efforts to overturn or weaken voter-approved measures. Critics of SJR 2 and advocates for direct democracy argue that these kinds of attacks fly in the face of the Utah Constitution and a state supreme court ruling that affirmed Utahns have the right to the People’s Tool.
BISC ANALYSIS: Extremist Lawmakers Pushing a Dubious Double-Standard
In both cases, these measures would increase demands on citizen-led efforts while safeguarding the status quo for legislators’ own measures. While Americans across the political spectrum would agree that our democracy is anchored in majority rule, extremist lawmakers in Missouri and Utah are attempting to add minority rule to their state constitutions. The People’s Tool has been used in these states to create life-changing policies for communities when their gridlocked legislators refused to act; but rather than following the leads of their voters, legislators are instead trying to rewrite the rules of the game. The double-standard proposed in these supermajority requirements would allow lawmakers to focus on laws that benefit their priorities and those of special interests while allowing progressive policies to languish at the ballot box when they can’t clear an impossibly high hurdle.
For more information on our analysis or to schedule an interview with one of our policy experts, please email [email protected].