Besides picking their elected representatives, voters across the country are deciding ballot measures that could reshape the ways they cast ballots in coming elections, or even how things get on the ballot.
About half of states allow citizen initiatives. That's when groups can bypass a legislature by collecting a certain number of signatures of registered voters to put proposed laws or constitutional changes on the ballot. Executive or judicial officials often still have some role in the process, typically by certifying that ballot wording is clear and accurate, and that petition circulators gathered enough valid signatures of registered voters.
