The goal of a good ballot title is to be a neutral summary that accurately conveys to voters the gist of what the proposed new law says or would do.
The National Conference of State Legislatures says, "The ballot title and summary are arguably the most important part of an initiative in terms of voter education.
"[1] 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.
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.
States where the ballot title is determined by the government after the signatures have been collected are: Arizona, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming.