Over 160 ballot initiatives will be voted on next month in 34 different states, touching on everything from gay marriage to marijuana legalization to minimum wage increases. Here are two websites to help you research these initiatives and find story ideas that might be related to your beat or community.
Ballot.org, from the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, is perhaps the most useful, with helpful information, history, and links — including links to all the secretary of states’ offices so you can follow up for more information.
One of the most helpful features is the national map that lists the main ballot initiatives for each state. For example, if you’re writing a story about gambling-related initiatives in your state, a quick glance will tell you that Washington, California, Florida, Oklahoma, and Michigan all have gambling-related initiatives on the ballot this year.
One caution is that the organization has a progressive/liberal bent — they state that upfront. (“…The mission of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center is to utilize the ballot initiative process to further the goals of the labor and progressive community by developing a proactive, national strategy to advance progressive ballot measures and connecting advocates across state and issue lines with a growing network of organizational leaders and experienced consultants so that valuable tactical and strategic ballot initiative resources may be shared.”) But the information seems unbiased and factual to me. Let me know if you come across anything that seems otherwise to you.
Another ballot initiative website that’s useful is one run by the Initiative & Referendum Institute at The University of Southern California. The site lists detailed information about how each state’s process for both popular and legislative referendums works. The site even has a listing of all statewide initiatives since the first one appeared on a ballot in 1904 in Oregon.
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What websites do you find handy when digging for information? Have you used the Web recently for a story? Send me the website and the story and I may print your tip. E-mail me at: poynter (at) jondube.com
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