Ballot title
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Through Law, Popular initiative and Massachusetts
United States
Differences between states
One way that states differ in laws governing the initiative process has to do with whether the ballot title is determined before signatures are collected, or after.
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) and Washington.
Post-circulation ballot titles
States where the ballot title is determined by the government after the signatures have been collected are:
Arizona, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming.