Citizen-driven ballot initiatives can’t happen in Wisconsin, but some people are trying to change that

About half the states have some process that allows citizens to collect enough signatures to force statewide referendums — something only the Legislature can do in Wisconsin right now.

“The only solution to the ills of democracy is more democracy.”

There are several variations of that quote as well as multiple claims to its authorship. Whatever its source, the sentiment is clear: Democracy isn’t perfect, but it is better to find new ways to strengthen it than to weaken it. That is the mindset of political reformists who want Wisconsin voters to have a more direct form of democracy: citizen-driven ballot initiatives to change laws and the state constitution.

About half the states have some kind of process that allows citizens to seek a statewide referendum to add constitutional amendments, and add, change, or delete state statutes.

The political reform group New America has released the results of a study that ranked Wisconsin first among states ripe for adopting a ballot initiative process. Maresa Strano, the group’s deputy director of political reform, said Wisconsin scored high in categories like strong civic engagement and a significant gap between where the public stands on issues versus what lawmakers are willing to pass.

“Initiative is what I like to call a pressure release valve,” Strano said on our radio show. “when the legislature really isn’t delivering on what the majority of the public wants, rather than a substitute for representative democracy.”

There are multiple examples in Wisconsin of the disconnect between the Republican-controlled Legislature and public opinion, including views on gun safety, legalizing marijuana, reproductive health rights, support for public education, and protecting election integrity, voting rights, and fair maps.

Strano appeared on Mornings with Pat Kreitlow along with Matt Rothschild, retired executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Rothschild also created the “Wisconsin Forward” podcast on the Civic Media radio network. And he wrote the book on political reform in his state, “12 Ways to Save Democracy in Wisconsin.” (University of Wisconsin Press, 2021)

“One of those chapters was titled ‘Give Us Direct Democracy,’” Rothschild said. “So we decided to team up and write an op-ed column,” that ran in the Wisconsin State Journal.

Rothschild noted that after Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature passed Act 10, the 2011 law that demolished public sector unions despite public opposition, Ohio Republicans tried to do the same, but voters had the ability to reject it and did so.  Rothschild also noted how Michigan voters passed a measure to ban partisan gerrymandering of congressional and legislative maps.

As voters in other states have passed measures that protect abortion rights, raise the minimum wage, provide paid sick leave, and expand Medicaid coverage, GOP lawmakers began to push back.

“There are all of these efforts underway by state legislatures to roll back initiative and referendum powers to restrict that process,” Strano said. “So we started scoping the landscape to see what activity was already happening within states to establish a new process to allow citizens this power. [Let’s] see if we can sort of nudge the issue a little bit forward.”

If Democrats in 2026 are able to hold the governor’s office and break a 16-year Republican stranglehold on legislative control, creating citizen ballot initiatives may be among the first reform bills on the agenda.

[Editor’s Note: Our daily radio show, “Mornings with Pat Kreitlow,” airs weekdays from 6-9 a.m. on our Facebook and YouTube pages as well as stations across Wisconsin thanks to our friends at Civic Media. If you can’t listen live, you can listen on-demand as a podcast by subscribing on Spotify. Remember to also follow us by subscribing to our weekday newsletter; our weekend political newsletter, “Sunday Mornings with Pat Kreitlow”; and following our social media feeds, including Instagram and TikTok.]