The Republican war on ballot initiatives, with Stephen Wolf

The Downballot

Mar 9 2023 • 22 mins

Progressives have had tremendous success passing all sorts of reforms at the ballot box in recent years, including measures that have expanded Medicaid, increased the minimum wage, and created independent redistricting commissions. How have Republicans responded? By making it harder to qualify measures for the ballot.

Daily Kos Elections' own Stephen Wolf joins us on this week's episode of The Downballot for a deep dive on the GOP's war on ballot initiatives, which includes burdensome signature requirements that disproportionately impact liberals; ramping up the threshold for passage for citizen-backed measures but not those referred by legislatures; and simply repealing voter-passed laws Republicans don't like. But Republican power is not unfettered, and Stephen explains how progressives can fight back by defeating efforts to curtail ballot measures—many of which voters themselves would first have to approve.

Transcript available here.

You Might Like

Fed Up
Fed Up
Wondery
Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra
Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC
The Al Franken Podcast
The Al Franken Podcast
ASF Productions
Slow Burn
Slow Burn
Slate Podcasts
The Ezra Klein Show
The Ezra Klein Show
New York Times Opinion
Will Be Wild
Will Be Wild
Pineapple Street Studios | Wondery | Amazon Music
The Rachel Maddow Show
The Rachel Maddow Show
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC
The Daily
The Daily
The New York Times
Radiolab
Radiolab
WNYC Studios
CounterClock
CounterClock
audiochuck
Stuff You Should Know
Stuff You Should Know
iHeartPodcasts
20/20
20/20
ABC News