Superseding initiative

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A superseding initiative is an initiative that is approved in the same election as an alternate initiative that covers similar ground, but which earns more votes. In the case of Taxpayers to Limit Campaign Spending v. Fair Political Practices Commission, in California in 1990, the California Supreme Court invalidated an initiative that was approved in the same election as another initiative that was also approved, but earned more votes. The court decided that the provisions of the two initiatives were incompatible and since both had won, the court needed to determine which one would be enacted into laws.

The concept of a Trojan Horse initiative is related to the idea of a superseding initiative in the sense that ballot initiative strategists can put a similar, but conflicting, ballot proposition on the ballot if they know that one whose provisions they dislike will be on the ballot and will probably win.