Ballot title

Aballot titleis the official, short, summary of areferendumthat appears on the ballot. The goal of a good ballot title is to be a neutral summary that accurately conveys to voters the gist of what the proposed new law says or would do. TheNational Conference of State Legislaturessays, "The ballot title and summary are arguably the most important part of an initiative in terms of voter education. Most voters never read more than the title and summary of the text of initiative proposals. Therefore, it is of critical importance that titles and summaries be concise, accurate and impartial."

United States

See also:Initiatives and referendums in the United States

Differences between states

One way that states differ inlawsgoverning theinitiativeprocess has to do with whether the ballot title is determinedbeforesignaturesare collected, orafter.

Another way that states differ has to do with whether the ballot title is determined by the government (which could be a commission, a ballot title determination board, the Secretary of State, or some other election official) or whether the ballot title is determined by the political organization that is advocating for the measure.

Pre-circulation ballot titles

States where the ballot title is set prior to circulation include:

Alaska,Arkansas,California,Colorado,Idaho,Maine,Massachusetts,Mississippi,Missouri,Montana,North Dakota,Ohio,Oregon(In Oregon, the ballot title is set after 1,000 initial sponsorship signatures have been submitted) andWashington.

Post-circulation ballot titles

States where the ballot title is determined by the governmentafterthe signatures have been collected are:

Arizona,Michigan,Nebraska,Nevada,Oklahoma,Utah,Wyoming.