Citizen-led ballot measures triumphed on Tuesday, even as Democrats flopped — and could offer hope of progress in the next Trump era.
Supporters and organizers of Amendment 3 and Proposition A celebrate the election results at a watch party in Kansas City, Missouri, on Nov. 5, 2024.Amid a decisive rejection of the Democratic Party, there was, on Tuesday, a small glimmer of hope for the next four years emanating from the heart of the Bible Belt.in their state’s constitution, overturning a total ban on abortion — one of the more severe bans in the nation — imposed on them by their Republican state lawmakers.
It started before organizers even began gathering signatures: Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey challenged state auditor Scott Fitzpatrick’s assessment that there would be “no costs or savings” associated with the measure, insisting instead that legalizing abortion would cost the state an absurdin lost tax revenue per year.
“It was hurdle after hurdle,” says Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, an organization devoted to achieving progressive goals through the ballot measure process, and a partner of the organizers on the ground in Missouri. After organizers made it through the GOP’s gauntlet, Hall says, “They spent an extraordinary amount of effort going city to city, door to door, talking to their neighbors about just how aligned with Missouri values this amendment was.
Ballot measures like the one in Missouri — and another in Arizona, where voters chose to overturn a 15-week ban and protect the right to abortion by an even wider margin — are just one instrument that liberals and progressives can make use of in the coming political era, but they are a particularly effective one. Elon Musk Is Joining Trump's Talks With World Leaders
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