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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
David A. Lieb

Lawmakers seek to rein in citizen ballot initiatives with new requirements for petitions

Ballot Initiatives States - (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Citizen activists supporting a public vote on important issues could have to brush up on their reading, writing and arithmetic if they want to get their initiatives on next year's ballot in some states.

A new Arkansas law will bar initiative ballot titles written above an eighth-grade reading level. And canvassers will have to verify that petition signers have either read the ballot title or had it read aloud to them.

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