It’s your right. Learn about freedom of speech.

First Five Now: Ballot Initiatives and the Power of Petition

The right to petition is the least known of the five First Amendment freedoms, according to the latest Freedom Forum survey, “The First Amendment: Where America Stands.”

But Americans use the right to petition more than they realize.

Hear from one expert on how the power of petition works through ballot initiatives, a grassroots tradition of American democracy.

Chris Melody Fields Figueredo is executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, the “go-to” organization for ballot measure advocates, which works with local, state and national organizers to support ballot measure campaigns.

She shares how petition plays a vital role in getting measures on the ballot and some of the key initiatives her organization is working on.

She also discusses some of the challenges the ballot initiative process faces in today’s political landscape.

“The First Amendment: Where America Stands” surveyed more than 3,000 Americans across geographic, demographic and ideological lines on their attitudes about the freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.

First Five Now is a Freedom Forum conversation that explores topical issues and features current newsmakers who are using the five freedoms of the First Amendment to guide their work.

Related Content

Delegates on the floor of the 1968 Democratic National Convention holding up

1968 Democratic National Convention Protests: A Look Back

Revisiting one of the most infamous conventions in history.
Read More
Black civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. speaks in Atlanta

25 Black Civil Rights Activists Who Used the Power of the First Amendment

Activists who used the First Amendment to advance Black civil rights.
Read More
FirstFive_Hinton_11.18.21

5 Times World-Class Athletes Used Their Freedom to Petition

The freedom to petition creates a path for all of us to air our grievances…
Read More

Prayers protected: What does the Supreme Court say about prayer in school?