Democracy for America takes position on 41 state, local ballot proposals in 2020 election

With less than two weeks to go before voting concludes, Democracy for America (DFA) has announced its position on 41 statewide and municipal-level direct-democracy initiatives in 17 states across the country.

These direct-democracy initiatives include ballot initiatives, ballot measures, referendums, and state constitutional amendments that will be approved, rejected, or ratified directly by voters who cast a ballot in the 2020 general election.

“All across the country, our progressive values are on the ballot in this election and nowhere is that more evident than in the over 41 ballot proposals, initiatives, measures, referendums and state constitutional amendments in 17 states that Democracy for America is weighing in on in 2020,” said DFA CEO Yvette Simpson in a statement.

“From fights to pass ranked-choice voting, a $15 minimum wage, and key criminal justice reforms to battles against efforts to restrict abortion rights, cut education spending, and hold back gig economy reforms, progressives have an amazing opportunity this year to vote our values in elections across the country. We decided to weigh in on an unprecedented 41 direct-democracy initiatives this year, because we wanted to ensure that every DFA member and progressive nationwide could feel confident in the decisions they get to make on their ballot before voting ends on November 3,” explained Simpson.

The full list of DFA’s positions on these ballot proposals is available below and on DFA’s website at http://www.democracyforamerica.com/propositions:

Alaska

• Ballot Measure 2 -- Vote YES -- Yes on 2 (campaign)
  • Ballot measure 2 would implement a "top four" blanket primaries for state and congressional offices, where all candidates would appear on the same primary ballot and the top-four vote-getters would advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. It then uses ranked-choice on the November ballot voting for those four candidates as well as the presidential election.

Arizona

• Prop 207 -- Vote YES -- Yes on 207 (campaign)
  • Proposition 207 would legalize the possession and use of marijuana for adults age 21 years or older.
• Prop 208 -- Vote YES -- Yes on 208 (campaign)
  • Prop 208 is expected to raise hundreds-of-millions of dollars to fund K-12 education through a 3.5% surcharge on taxable income for individuals who make over $250,000 per year or couples who make more than $500,000 per year

California

• Prop 15 -- Vote YES -- Yes on 15 (campaign)
  • Prop 15 increases funding for public schools, community colleges, and local government services by changing the tax assessment for commercial and industrial property, requiring that commercial and industrial property be taxed based on current market value.

• Prop 16 -- Vote YES -- Vote Yes on Prop 16 (campaign)
  • Prop 16 permits government policies to consider race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in order to address diversity. It would repeal Prop 209 which banned affirmative action in California.

• Prop 17 -- Vote YES -- Yes on 17 (campaign)
  • Restores voting rights upon completion of a prison term to people who have been disqualified from voting while serving in prison.

• Prop 18 -- Vote YES -- Yes on 18 (campaign)
  • Prop 18 amends the California state constitution to allow 17-year-olds to vote in Primary and Special Elections if they turn 18 by the next General Election.

• Prop 22 -- Vote NO -- NO on CA Prop 22 (campaign)
  • Prop 22 would exempt large app-based companies like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash, from having to hire drivers as employees, which means drivers would lose benefits like sick leave, healthcare, and unemployment.

• Prop 25 -- Vote YES -- Yes on CA Prop 25 (campaign)
  • Prop 25 replaces a cash-only bail system with a system that is based on public safety and flight risk assessments. Prop 25 would mean that those without the monetary means to “post bail” could have the opportunity to await trial outside of jail.
• Local California
  • Albany, CA -- Measure BB -- Vote YES -- Yes on BB (campaign)
    • Measure BB would approve the adoption of proportional ranked-choice voting for elections to the city council and school board.
  • Eureka, CA -- Measure C -- VOTE YES -- Yes on C (campaign)
    • Measure C would adopt ranked-choice voting for electing the mayor and city council while replacing the current plurality voting system.
  • Los Angeles County, CA -- Measure J -- Vote YES -- Yes on J (campaign)
    • Measure J amends the county's charter to require that no less than 10% of the county's general fund be appropriated to community programs and alternatives to incarceration, such as health services and pre-trial non-custody services.
  • San Francisco, CA -- Proposition L -- Vote YES -- Yes on L (campaign)
    • Authorizes an additional tax of 0.1%-0.6% of gross receipts or 0.4%-2.4% of payroll expenses for businesses in which the highest-paid managerial employee earns more than 100 times the median compensation of employees, generating an estimated $60-140 million per year.
  • Sonoma County, CA -- Measure P -- Vote YES -- Yes On P (campaign)
    • Measure P increases independent oversight of local Sheriff's deputies and changes how the sheriff's office operates in the community.

Colorado

• Amendment B -- Vote Yes -- Yes on Amendment B (campaign)
  • This measure would repeal the piece of the 1982 Gallagher Amendment that limits residential property taxes to 45% of the total property tax base statewide. Removing the limit on property taxes will result in added revenue to be spent on schools, libraries, first responders, and more.
• Amendment 76 -- Vote NO -- No on Amendment 76 (campaign)
  • Amendment 76 would amend the Colorado state constitution to say that “only a U.S. citizen can vote”. This is already the case in Colorado and around the country. Amendment 76 would also strip the right of 17-year-old Coloradans to vote in Primaries should they turn 18 by the General Election.
• Prop 113 -- Vote YES -- Yes on 113 (campaign)
  • Proposition 113 allows Coloradans to approve the decision of the Legislature and the Governor to join the National Popular Vote, an electoral change that would replace the electoral college and its state-by-state winner-take-all system, therefore ensuring every vote matters and the candidates with the most votes wins the election.
• Prop 115 -- Vote NO -- No on 115 (campaign)
  • Proposition 115 bans abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy and establishes criminal penalties for medical professionals who provide this care. Prop 115 has no​ exceptions for health or individual circumstances — even in cases of rape or risks to the woman’s health.
• Prop 116 -- Vote NO -- No on 116 (campaign)
  • Proposition 116 will permanently reduce state income tax from 4.63% to 4.55%. Proposition 116 will result in $2 Billion in spending being eliminated in the first ten years. These cuts will likely come in the form of permanent cuts to K-12, higher education, healthcare and transportation.
• Prop 117 -- Vote NO -- No on 117 (campaign)
  • Proposition 117 will make the creation and use of enterprise funds, used for funding critical needs like transportation, universities, environmental programs, state parks and health care much harder.
• Prop 118 -- Vote YES -- Yes on 118 (campaign)
  • Prop 118 would provide up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave to care for yourself, an ill family member or a new child.
• Local Colorado
  • Boulder, CO - Ballot Measure 2E -- Vote YES -- Yes on 2E (campaign)
    • Ballot Measure 2E allows voters to elect their mayor directly with ranked-choice voting, thereby replacing the current system in which the city council selects the mayor.

Florida

• Amendment 1 -- Vote NO
  • Amendment 1 would amend the Florida state constitution to say that only a U.S. citizen who is at least eighteen years of age, a permanent resident of Florida, and registered to vote, is able to vote. This is already the case in Florida and around the country. Amendment 1 could prevent any proactive legislation in the future that would allow 17 years olds to vote in a Primary or Special Election if they turn 18 by the General Election.
• Amendment 2 - Vote YES -- Florida For A Fair Wage (campaign)
  • Amendment 2 would raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026.
• Amendment 4 -- Vote NO
  • Amendment 4 would require all proposed amendments to the state constitution to be approved by the voters in two elections, instead of one, in order to take effect. Florida already requires a 60% supermajority vote to pass a constitutional amendment, and this measure would limit the ability of everyday Floridians to pass Constitutional Amendments.

Illinois

• Allow for Graduated Income Tax Amendment -- Vote YES -- Vote Yes For Fairness (Campaign)
  • This amendment would change the Illinois state constitution to eliminate the requirement that Illinois tax income at a single rate, allowing instead for higher rates for higher incomes and lower rates for people with low and moderate incomes. Taxes will be increased on those who make more than $250,000 per year. This amendment will raise more than $3 billion a year for state and local government, schools, and human services.

Louisiana

• Amendment 1 - Vote NO -- Louisiana For Personal Freedoms (campaign)
  • Amendment 1 would ban abortion in the Louisiana state constitution. This amendment would pave the way to ban abortion in Louisiana, with no exceptions, including rape or incest.

Massachusetts

• Question 2 - Vote YES -- Yes on 2 ( campaign)
  • Question 2 would implement ranked-choice voting for Massachusetts’ U.S. Senate and U.S House general and primary elections, state primary and general elections, and county offices, beginning in 2022.

Minnesota

• Local Minnesota
  • Bloomington, Minnesota - City Question 3 -- Vote YES -- Yes on 3 (campaign)
    • Adopts ranked-choice voting in elections for mayor and council.
  • Minnetonka, Minnesota - City Question -- Vote YES -- RCV Minnetonka (campaign)
    • Makes the city's nonpartisan primary elections a single general election held with ranked-choice voting for mayor and city council.

Missouri

• Amendment 3 -- Vote NO -- Clean Missouri (campaign)
  • Amendment 3 would repeal most of the provisions of the “Clean Missouri” Amendment passed by a 2-1 margin by Missouri voters in 2018. This legislatively referred amendment would eliminate the requirement that state legislative maps be drawn based on total population, meaning that 1.5 million Missourians — almost all of them children — would be uncounted and unrepresented. It also would undo the new requirement that voting districts be drawn by an independent state demographer, rather than politicians. In addition, Missouri citizens could not challenge gerrymandering in federal court.

Montana

• LR-130 -- Vote NO
  • LR-130 seeks to remove a local government’s power to regulate the permitted carrying of concealed weapons, including repealing the existing authority of local governments to restrict the open carry of firearms at public assemblies, parks, and school grounds

Nevada

• Question 2 -- Vote YES
  • Question 2 seeks to remove language from the Nevada Constitution that prohibits same-sex marriage. Question 2 would amend the Nevada Constitution to say that Nevada shall issue marriage licenses regardless of gender and all marriages must be treated equally under the law.
• Question 4 -- Vote YES
  • Question 4 would enshrine the state's current statute, Declaration of Voters Rights, into the Nevada Constitution.

Nebraska

• Amendment 1 - Vote YES -- Vote Yes: End Slavery in Nebraska (campaign)
  • Amendment 1 is a constitutional amendment that would remove a provision in the Nebraska state constitution that still allows slavery as punishment for the conviction of a crime.

• Initiative 428 - Vote YES -- Vote For 428 (campaign)
  • Initiative 428 would cap interest rates on payday loans at 36%. Currently, the average interest rate for a payday loan in Nebraska is 404%.

Oklahoma

• State Question 805 -- Vote YES -- Yes on 805 (campaign)
  • SQ 805 is a criminal justice reform that would end “repeat sentence penalties,” or the practice of adding years to a person’s prison sentence for a nonviolent offense because they had a prior nonviolent conviction. If SQ 805 passes, people who are convicted of nonviolent crimes could be sentenced up to the maximum allowable time in prison for the current crime, but would not receive additional time in prison because of their past convictions.

Oregon

• Ballot Measure 107 -- Vote YES -- Yes on 107 (campaign)
  • Ballot measure 107 will amend the state constitution to allow laws and voter initiatives that require the disclosure of political contributions and spending; limit campaign contributions and spending and require that political ads disclose who paid for them.

Utah

• Amendment C -- Vote YES
  • Amendment C is a constitutional amendment that would remove a provision in the Utah state constitution that still allows slavery as punishment for the conviction of a crime

Washington

• Referendum 90 -- APPROVE -- Approve 90 (campaigns)
  • This referendum will uphold a new Washington state law requiring all public schools to teach age-appropriate, inclusive, comprehensive sexual health education to K-12 students.

• Senate Joint Resolution 8212 -- Vote YES
  • This legislatively referred constitutional amendment would allow funds in the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Account to be invested to help ensure payment of benefits to eligible Washingtonians for their long-term care.