Courts Removing Statewide Measures from the Ballot

Have courts removed measures from the statewide ballot in California? The answer is yes. In fact, the judicial branch has done so recently in three instances.

The most recent example was in 2024, when the qualified measure for the statewide ballot, called the California Two-Thirds Legislative Vote and Voter Approval for New or Increased Taxes Initiative, was removed by the California Supreme Court, which ruled that the proposed measure amounted to an impermissible revision of the state Constitution and therefore could not go before the voters. This measure was prevented from being placed on the ballot despite having obtained the requisite number of voter signatures to qualify.

In 2018, the California Supreme Court removed a measure from the statewide ballot. It was Prop. 9, called the Three States Initiative. It was removed because the court determined that “the potential harm in permitting the measure to remain on the ballot outweighs the potential harm in delaying the proposition to a future election.”

In 2014, the California Supreme Court removed Proposition 49 from the November 2014 ballot. This measure resulted from SB 1272, which was allowed to become “law” without Governor Brown’s signature. It called for an advisory vote on whether the United States Congress and California Legislature should approve an amendment to the U.S. Constitution overturning the United States Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.