Voters across the country will weigh in on more than 150 ballot measures this year that will determine the future of abortion rights, pay for low-income workers, and the way elections are conducted, among a host of other important questions.
The ballot measure has a long history in the United States, dating from the founding of the republic and defining the Progressive Era in Western states. Today, progressives use ballot measures to advance liberal policies in red states, where Republican-controlled legislatures are reluctant to advance certain measures, and conservatives use ballot measures to roll back some blue state policies they oppose.
And this year, in the midst of a heated presidential contest, both Democrats and Republicans are using ballot measures to focus voter attention on issues that give their side an advantage.
Here’s a look at the most prominent trends in ballot measures this year:
Abortion rights: Voters in 10 states will decide proposed constitutional amendments that would protect and guarantee abortion rights, the largest number of abortion measures ever to appear on state-level ballots.
Democrats hope measures that appear on the ballot in Arizona, Florida and Nevada will help turn out younger more liberal voters to help them win electoral votes or seats in Congress. Abortion rights measures will also appear on ballots in Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York and South Dakota.
Nebraska voters face a unique situation: They will decide on ballot measures that both protect abortion rights and restrict abortion rights. If both measures pass, the proposed amendment that scores the largest number of votes in favor will supersede the other.
Non-citizen voting: Voters in eight states where Republicans control the legislature — Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin — will face proposed constitutional amendments to bar non-citizens from voting in elections.
Non-citizen voting is already illegal at the federal level, and only a handful of municipalities in California, Maryland and Vermont allow non-citizens to vote in municipal or school board elections. But Republicans want voters thinking about the surge of immigrants who have come across the southern border with Mexico, and a ban on non-citizen voting may help — especially in swing states such as North Carolina and Wisconsin.
Six other states approved bans on non-citizen voting between 2018 and 2024.
Voters in Arizona will be asked whether to allow state and local law enforcement officers to arrest those who come across the border illegally. Proposition 314 is similar to a Texas law that was passed last year, which the Biden administration has sued to block.
Marijuana legalization: Supporters of legalizing marijuana for recreational use will try again to reach the 60% threshold they need to win in Florida. A previous legalization initiative failed in 2014, receiving 58% of the vote.
If Florida again votes down legalization, it won’t be for lack of resources: Supporters have raised about $90 million for their campaign, almost all of it from Trulieve, a cannabis company that stands to dominate the Florida market.
Voters in North Dakota and South Dakota will also decide whether to legalize pot. North Dakota voters rejected a legalization measure in 2018, and South Dakota voters rejected a legalization measure in 2022.
And Massachusetts will decide Question 4, which would legalize psychedelic substances under the supervision of a new state commission.
Changing election rules: Voters in nine states will face questions about whether to change the way primary elections are run, the largest number of election reform measures ever to appear on ballots in a single year.
Voters in Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, D.C., will decide whether to establish ranked-choice voting. Voters in Alaska will decide whether to repeal their ranked-choice voting system, which has been in place since 2020. And voters in Missouri will decide on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban ranked-choice voting in city elections.
Arizona voters will decide whether to abolish partisan primaries in favor of an all-party primary, in which the top two or four vote-getters advance to a general election runoff. Voters in South Dakota will decide whether to replace partisan primaries with an all-party primary that would advance the top two finishers to a runoff. Montana voters can decide between a top-four system or one that requires candidates to get a majority of the vote to win.
Connecticut voters will decide whether to allow no-excuse absentee ballots. Those no-excuse ballots are common in Western states and battleground presidential states, but New England and Northeastern states have been much slower to adapt. Florida voters will be asked whether to repeal a public campaign finance system.
Finally, voters in Ohio will decide whether to reform the way district maps are drawn. Current Ohio law allows a redistricting commission, at the moment dominated by Republicans, to redraw political boundaries. Ohio’s Issue 1 would establish a 15-member commission including Democratic, Republican and independent voters to draw new lines.
Raising minimum wages: Voters in Alaska and Missouri will decide whether to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. California voters will be asked whether to raise the wage of lowest-paid workers to $18 an hour. And voters in Massachusetts will be asked whether to raise wages for tipped workers, such as restaurant servers, to match the state’s general minimum wage.
Arizona voters will decide a measure that would allow tipped workers to be paid 25% less per hour than the minimum wage. Current law allows those workers to earn $3 per hour less than the minimum wage, or $11.35 an hour; if Proposition 138 passes, that minimum would drop to $10.77 per hour.
Betting against minimum wage measures isn’t a great financial move: Voters have approved every single minimum wage hike since 2000.
Ending involuntary servitude: California and Nevada voters will be asked to strip antiquated language from their respective state constitutions that allow convicted criminals to be sentenced to involuntary servitude.
Voters in eight states — Colorado in 2018, Nebraska and Utah in 2020, and Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont in 2022 — stripped similar language out of their constitutions in recent years.
And the rest: Colorado’s Proposition 127 would bar trophy hunting of big cats, like bobcats, cougars and lynx. California’s Proposition 3 would repeal Proposition 8, the 2008 measure that banned same-sex marriage — a moot point after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples could wed in 2015.
Indiana ballots will ask voters whether to remove the superintendent of public instruction from the order of gubernatorial succession. The superintendent’s office was abolished in favor of an appointed secretary of education in 2021.
Oregon’s Measure 115 would allow the legislature to impeach statewide elected officials. The proposal comes a year after then-Secretary of State Shemia Fagan (D) resigned her position after local reports found she was working a side consulting job for a marijuana business.
Maine voters will decide whether to adopt a new flag. Missouri voters will decide whether to legalize sports betting to keep up with neighboring Kansas, as the two states fight over the right to host the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals.
In Washington, voters will seal the fates of several initiatives spearheaded by the Democratic majority in the state legislature. Conservative activists have placed initiatives on this year’s ballot to roll back a capital gains tax and a carbon tax credit program established in 2021.
Voters in West Virginia will decide whether to amend the state constitution to bar the practice of medically assisted aid in dying. Medical aid in dying is legal in Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, New Jersey, Vermont, Maine and Hawaii.