In Maine and Ohio, more citizen-initiated ballot measures qualified in 2023 than the average for odd-numbered years between 2011 and 2021 for each respective state.
Maine initiative sponsors filed six initiatives and qualified four of the measures for the Nov. 2023 ballot. For the last six odd-numbered years, an average of nearly seven initiatives were filed in Maine with an average of one initiative certified each cycle.
The four Maine initiatives that will appear on the ballot include voter approval for certain utilities to incur debt that exceeds $1 billion, prohibiting election spending by foreign governments and entities, the creation of Pine Tree Power Company, and a right-to-repair law. They are all indirect initiated state statutes, which means the state legislature had the opportunity to enact them with the governor’s signature or send them to the ballot.
