Lawmakers enacted 33 bills this year related to direct democracy

Welcome to the Monday, August 19, Brew.

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. Lawmakers enacted 33 bills this year related to direct democracy
2. Democratic National Convention starts today
3. A deep dive into what Wyoming voters can expect to see on their Aug. 20 ballots

Lawmakers enacted 33 bills this year related to direct democracy

Each year, Ballotpedia releases a report on state legislation affecting the three aspects of direct democracy in the U.S.—the ballot initiative, referendum, and recall election. In this year’s report, we found that the number of proposed bills was higher than the annual average from 2018 to 2023 of 302. We also found that the number of enacted bills was close to the annual average of 34. Let’s take a closer look at these trends.

Proposed legislation

During the 2024 legislative sessions, lawmakers in 40 states proposed 362 bills relating to direct democracy. Between 2018 and 2023, lawmakers proposed an annual average of 302 bills.

• Of the 26 states in the U.S. with an initiative or referendum process, lawmakers in 21 states proposed bills related to direct democracy this year.
• Lawmakers in the 23 states with Republican trifectas proposed 145 (44.7%) bills, lawmakers in the 17 states with Democratic trifectas proposed 130 (39.9%), and lawmakers in the 10 states with divided governments proposed 51 (15.6%).
• Lawmakers in Missouri, which has an initiative and referendum process, introduced 44 bills—the most of any state. None of these bills were enacted.

Enacted legislation

As of Aug. 5, lawmakers enacted 33 of the 326 proposed bills (10.12%), including the four ballot measures to be decided on Nov. 5. Between 2018 and 2023, lawmakers enacted an annual average of 34 bills.

• We evaluate all of the bills as to whether they make the initiative, referendum, and recall processes more difficult or less difficult.
• Ten enacted bills were categorized as making the initiative, referendum, and recall processes more difficult, including four constitutional amendments requiring voter approval—the most in the last six years. Between 2018 and 2023, lawmakers enacted an annual average of seven such bills.
• Five enacted bills were categorized as making the initiative, referendum, and recall processes less difficult—the most in the last six years. Between 2018 and 2023, lawmakers enacted an annual average of two such bills.

• Of the bills enacted this year, four are constitutional amendments requiring voter approval. From 2018 to 2023, there were 21 ballot measures related to the citizen initiative or other ballot measure processes. Voters approved 11 (52.4%) and rejected 10 (47.6%) measures. Legislatures referred 17 (81.0%) of the measures, and the other four (19.0%) were citizen initiatives.
• Utah had the most enacted bills this year. Of the eight proposed bills, lawmakers enacted five bills.

Partisanship

Sixteen of the 33 enacted bills (48.5%) had bipartisan backing, 14 (42.4%) passed with Republican majorities, and three (9%) with Democratic majorities. This year, Republicans had trifectas in 13 (50.0%) of the 26 states that have a statewide initiative and referendum. Democrats had trifectas in 10 (38.5%), and three (11.5%) states had divided governments.

• Of the 10 bills enacted to make the initiative, referendum, and recall processes more difficult, six passed with Republican majorities, three passed with Democratic majorities, and one passed with bipartisan support.
• Of the five bills enacted to make the initiative, referendum, and recall processes less difficult, three passed with bipartisan support, one passed with a Republican majority, and one passed with a Democratic majority.
• In 2023, Initiative & Referendum Institute Director John Matsusaka published an analysis of state constitutional amendments that increase the cost of proposing or approving ballot initiatives. He found that from 1960 to 2022, “proposals to restrict initiative and referendum rights were common throughout the period.” His data indicates that there was a shift around 2000. Before 2000, about 50% of the amendments originated in Republican-controlled legislatures, while about 25% originated in Democratic-controlled legislatures and 25% originated in divided legislatures. After 2000, Republicans continued proposing constitutional amendments, but the numbers fell for Democratic-controlled and divided legislatures. You can check out our 2023 interview with Matsusaka on the subject here.

Typically, more bills are proposed and enacted during odd-numbered years, like 2023, than even-numbered years, like 2024. This is likely because many state legislative sessions are two years long, starting in the odd-numbered year, and more bills are introduced at the start of the two-year session.

For a list of the bills that made the initiative, referendum, or recall processes more or less difficult, click here. For an explanation of our difficulty analysis methodology, click here.

Democratic National Convention starts today

The Democratic National Convention begins today, Aug. 19, in Chicago, Illinois. During the four-day convention, the party will adopt a party platform. To check out our coverage of this year’s Republican National Convention, click here.

Vice President Kamala Harris (D) won the Democratic presidential nomination on Aug. 2 during a virtual roll call vote of Democratic convention delegates. Delegates are individuals chosen to represent their state or territory at the convention. Harris received 4,563 delegate votes, which amounted to 99% of the delegates. Almost all delegates were unbound following President Joe Biden‘s (D) withdrawal from the race. Harris’ running mate, Wisconsin Gov. Tim Walz, was also officially nominated.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) opted to hold a virtual delegate roll call to certify its presidential and vice presidential nominees ahead of the in-person Democratic National Convention due to concerns about ballot access in states with early deadlines.

Harris and Walz will deliver acceptance speeches at the convention. According to USA Today’s Joey Garrison and Rachel Barber, Biden, former President Barack Obama (D), and former President Bill Clinton (D) will also speak at the convention.

To learn more about past Democratic National Conventions, check out our coverage from 2020 and 2016.

A deep dive into what Wyoming voters can expect to see on their Aug. 20 ballots

Continuing our coverage of statewide primaries, today we’ll dive into elections in Wyoming. Last week, we previewed the state’s Aug. 20 legislative primaries. Today, we’ll look at the congressional and municipal primaries.

Why it matters at the national level

In the U.S. Senate, Democrats currently have a majority. There are 47 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and four independents. Three independents caucus with the Democratic Party, and one other counts towards the Democratic majority for committee purposes. Thirty-four of 100 seats are up for election, including one special election. Of the seats up for election in 2024, Democrats hold 19, Republicans hold 11, and independents hold four.

In the U.S. House, Republicans currently have a 220-212 majority with three vacancies. Wisconsin’s U.S. House delegation includes one Republican.

Primary elections

U.S. Senate

The Democratic primary is uncontested, and the nominee is Scott Morrow (D). Three candidates—including incumbent Sen. John Barrasso (R)—are running in the Republican primary. Barrasso was first elected in a 2008 special election by a margin of 46.8 percentage points. Barrasso won re-election in 2012 by a margin of 54.1 percentage points and again in 2018 by 36.9 percentage points.

U.S. House

Three candidates are running for Wyoming’s At-Large U.S. House district, including one Democrat and two Republicans. Between 2014 and 2022, an average of 6.4 candidates ran each year.

• The three candidates running in Wyoming this year are the fewest since 2014 when three candidates ran.

• Incumbent Rep. Harriet Hageman (R) is running for re-election. The only time the district was open in the last 10 years was 2016 when then-Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R) retired rather than seek a fifth term.
• For the first time since 2014, the Democratic primary is uncontested, while the Republican primary has been contested each year since 2014.

Municipal

• Six candidates—including incumbent Mayor Patrick Collins—are running in the nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Cheyenne. Collins was first elected in 2020 by a margin of 34.1 percentage points. There are also primaries for six seats on the Cheyenne City Council.
• Wyoming is one of 20 states where we are expanding our local election coverage beyond the nation’s biggest cities, school districts, and state capitals. In addition to those above, there are 370 candidates running in 144 other local races for offices, including local councils, county commissions, and other county-level positions.