Voters across the country are set to decide on nearly 150 ballot measures next week that will shape the future of a wide variety of policy issues in their states.
Constitutional amendments related to abortion rights have drawn the most national attention in an election year that has otherwise been dominated by the presidential race.
But ballot measures in dozens of other states will also put decisions about how to handle marijuana regulations, voting procedures, economic issues and immigration laws directly in the hands of voters.
“The major trends that we’re seeing in 2024 are reproductive freedom, democracy and economic justice,” said Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, the executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which works with progressive organizations to help advance citizen-led ballot measures.
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According to her group, there are 147 ballot measures on ballots next Tuesday in 41 states. Of those, 77 were referred to the ballot by state lawmakers, while 57 were initiated by citizens. The others are considered bond proposals, advisory questions and constitutional convention questions. (In addition, Louisiana will let voters decide on four constitutional amendments on its Dec. 7 ballot.)
Here's a rundown of the various issues the proposed amendments seek to address.
Abortion
Constitutional amendments to expand or protect abortion access will be on the ballot in 10 states, including the presidential battlegrounds of Arizona and Nevada and the Senate battlegrounds of Montana and Florida.
“Everyone knows this is a big issue this year — it’s the most we’ve ever seen for reproductive freedom ballot measures in history,” Fields Figueredo said.
In Arizona, Florida, Missouri and South Dakota, proposed amendments would effectively protect abortion rights until fetal viability, with some exceptions that differ in each state after that point, and undo existing abortion laws on the books.
In Maryland, Montana, Nevada and New York, abortion is already legal through fetal viability, and in Colorado, there are no laws restricting abortion and no gestational limits for women seeking abortions. As a result, the proposals in those states are intended to formally enshrine those existing rights, which organizers have said is designed to prevent lawmakers from undoing them in the future.
Nebraska is the only state where two dueling constitutional amendments will appear on the November ballot.
One measure would amend the state constitution to protect abortion rights until fetal viability, with exceptions for the life and health of the woman after that.
The other would protect abortion rights in the first trimester, but it would bar the procedure in the second and third trimesters, except in medical emergencies or when pregnancies are the result of sexual assaults or incest. Passage would effectively codify the state's existing law banning abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions, in the state constitution.
Voting and elections
There are 39 ballot measures on the November ballot related to democracy, elections and voting procedures, according to the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center.
Some seek to create or further tighten voting restrictions, while others seek to broaden access.
For example, eight states — Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin — will have constitutional amendments, referred to the November ballot by Republican lawmakers, designed to make it clear that only American citizens can vote in elections in those states. It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in elections in each of those states and at the federal level, and it rarely happens. Election experts have warned that the measures amount to an effort by Republicans to drive the unsubstantiated narrative that noncitizens are voting in large numbers.
In Nevada, a constitutional amendment on the ballot would require people to show identification when they vote in person. Under state rules, voters would need to pass it in two consecutive elections for it to take effect.
Meanwhile, at least three states will have measures on their ballots that would make it more difficult for citizen-led initiatives to qualify for the ballot. A proposal in Arizona would raise signature requirements for citizen-led constitutional amendments to include 15% of registered voters in each of the state’s 30 legislative districts, while another would allow any person to contest an initiative or proposed amendment in court after it has been filed.
A proposal in North Dakota would require any ballot initiative to be solely about one subject and constitutional amendments to be passed in both the primary and general elections to take effect.
In addition, ballot measures in a handful of other states will let voters decide about implementing open primaries, as well as ranked-choice voting, in some elections.
Marijuana
Nearly half the states have already legalized use of recreational or medical marijuana. Voters in four more states — Florida, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota — will decide next week whether to join them.
A ballot measure in Florida will let voters decide whether to make recreational weed — sold at designated dispensaries — legal for everyone over 21. Medical marijuana is already legal in Florida.
In Nebraska, where the use of all marijuana remains illegal, a pair of measures would legalize and regulate the use and sale of medical marijuana.
And in North Dakota and South Dakota, where marijuana is legal for medical purposes, voters will decide on whether to legalize its use recreationally.
Immigration
Arizona is the only state with an immigration-related measure on the ballot this year — and the stakes are big.
Arizona’s Republican-controlled Legislature referred a controversial immigration policy to the ballot that would increase the use of a federal database to check employment eligibility and give state and local law enforcement agencies the authority to detain and deport undocumented border crossers, despite court rulings that have established that that power belongs to the federal government.
Democrats and progressive groups have described the measure as effectively resurrecting controversial 2010 anti-illegal immigration legislation. And voting rights groups have argued it is designed to galvanize conservative turnout and counter enthusiasm for the state’s abortion rights proposal.
Economy and crime
Several states will also allow voters to decide on an array of proposals related to economic issues and crime.
California voters will be asked whether they approve of gradually raising the state’s minimum wage to $18 per hour, while voters in Alaska and Missouri will be asked whether they approve of gradually raising it to $15 per hour.
In Arizona, voters will decide on a constitutional amendment that would effectively revise the rules for a minimum wage for tipped workers.
In Colorado, voters will decide on a list of amendments that would cap property tax revenues for local districts, while voters in Washington state will decide whether state employees may opt out of coverage of various insurance programs.
And in California, voters will determine the fate of a ballot measure that would raise criminal penalties for many drug-related crimes.
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