2024 Ballot Measures to Watch  

Voters in forty-one states are considering ballot measures this fall. Among the most-watched results in next week’s election will be whether state citizens approve measures on abortion rights, voting rights and election procedures, and minimum wage increases.

Most of the measures would amend states constitutions. They were either initiated by citizens, who collected signatures and followed the specific state protocol to place a measure on the ballot, or state legislatures, who voted to put the measure in front of the public for approval. Every state except Delaware requires voter approval before a legislatively referred amendment can go into effect. 

Ballot measures can provide insight on the political landscape at both the state and national level. For example, Arizona — with measures on abortion, legislative and executive power, primary elections, criminal sentencing, and immigration, including a measure that would grant police the right to arrest noncitizens who enter the state — highlights the most salient issues currently dividing Arizonans and Americans more generally.

In most states, measures need a simple majority of the vote to pass. Some states have more stringent requirements. In Florida, for instance, constitutional amendments require 60 percent approval. And in Nevada, ballot measures must receive public approval twice — after a majority of Nevadans vote yes in one election, the same initiative appears again for final approval on the ballot two years later. 

Below are some of the issues on ballots throughout the country.

Abortion

Voters in 10 states are considering abortion-related amendments this year. Initiatives in battleground states like Arizona and Nevada have been closely watched for their potential to increase turnout during a presidential election year. Similarly, dueling abortion measures in Nebraska, which splits its Electoral College votes, may have implications for the presidential race.

The most significant changes to state law if abortion-rights measures are approved would come in Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota — states that have near-total abortion bans or only allow abortion early in pregnancy and are each considering measures that would expand access to abortion.

Colorado, Maryland, Montana, and New York — states where abortion rights are currently protected by statute — also have amendments on the ballot that would enshrine abortion rights in their state constitutions. 

Requirements that only citizens can vote 

Eight states, including Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, and the presidential battleground states of North Carolina and Wisconsin, have ballot measures that would amend their constitutions to say that “only” U.S. citizens can vote. 

Both federal and state law already limit voting in federal elections to citizens only, and the conspiracy theory that noncitizens vote illegally in elections in any impactful numbers has been repeatedly debunked. Such ballot initiatives serve two purposes, election experts say — spreading the false narrative that noncitizen voting is an ongoing problem in order to sow doubt about the security of American elections and, in some states, preventing local governments from allowing noncitizens from voting in local elections (a small number of cities do). 

Changes to voting and election procedures

Voters in multiple states are considering proposals relating to voting and election procedures, doing away with typical party-based primaries and moving to a nonpartisan primary system. Arizona’s measure, for instance, would allow citizens to vote for any candidate running in the primary election, regardless of which party the voter is registered for. A competing measure would maintain partisan primaries. 

In other states, like Colorado and Idaho, voters are considering a “top four” primary system, in which the four candidates who receive the most votes in the primary election would move on to the general election. 

All three of those states’ ballots include proposals to move to ranked choice voting, at least in some elections. Alaskans, on the other hand, will decide whether to repeal top four primary and ranked choice voting procedures its citizens adopted in 2020. 

Connecticut is voting on whether to allow no-excuse absentee voting, and Nevada, which votes mostly by mail, will decide whether in-person voters must present a voter ID and by-mail voters must include an ID number (such a social security number or driver’s license number) with their signature. 

Ohioans are voting on whether to establish a citizen-led independent redistricting process to replace the politically driven map-making system for legislative and congressional maps. (The Brennan Center endorsed this proposed amendment.)

Minimum wage and workers’ rights 

A few states are considering changes to labor laws, including minimum wage raises in California (to $18) and Missouri (to $15). Along with Nebraska, Missouri is also voting on another work-related benefit — paid sick leave. Massachusetts citizens are considering proposals to gradually increase minimum wage for certain tip workers and give Uber drivers and similar gig workers the right to unionize. Arizonans, meanwhile, will decide whether to give employers the ability to decrease tip workers’ guaranteed pay. 

Crime and punishment

Both California and Nevada have proposed amendments that would remove language from their constitutions that allows involuntary servitude as a criminal punishment. Another California measure would increase penalties for drug and theft crimes and add a new class of drug crime that gives the offender the option to participate in drug and mental health treatment. Arizona voters will decide whether to include a $20 fee as part of any criminal conviction, with the money used toward a benefit payment for the families of first responders killed in the line of duty as a result of a criminal act. Voters in Arizona are also considering whether people convicted of child sex trafficking should serve mandatory life sentences. 

Education

Colorado, Kentucky, and Nebraska all have measures relating to so-called school choice, or allowing public funds to be allocated to private schools. Colorado voters will decide whether “each K–12 child has the right to school choice” and Kentucky will decide whether to “enable the General Assembly to provide state funding to students outside of public schools.” Meanwhile, a Nebraska amendment would repeal a law providing education scholarships that can be used by students to attend private institutions.

Same-sex marriage 

Voters in California, Colorado, and Hawaii will decide whether to remove currently inoperable language from their constitutions that limits the availability of same-sex marriage. Proponents of the measures are concerned the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn its 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges recognizing a constitutional right to marriage equality. The state constitutions’ prohibitions pre-date Obergefell, and, if left in the state constitutions, could come back into effect if the decision were overturned.

Measures making it harder to amend state constitutions 

The Arizona and North Dakota state legislatures have placed amendments on those ballots that would add hurdles to citizens’ ability to place initiatives on the ballot. Both measures would add additional signature-gathering requirements. Arizona’s measure would also allow individuals to challenge initiatives before final approval for the ballot. North Dakota’s would limit initiatives to a single-subject and require constitutional changes to be approved in two consecutive elections before going into effect. 

Drug legalization

Florida, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota have measures relating to legalizing marijuana. Massachusetts, meanwhile, could become the third state to legalize limited uses of psychedelics. (Colorado voted to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms in 2022 and Oregon voters approved the legalization of psilocybin in 2021.) 

Measures about state judiciaries 

With U.S. Supreme Court reform a topic of national debate, several states have ballot measures related to ethics requirements and retirement mandates for state supreme court justices. 

Arizonans, for example, are considering an amendment that would eliminate regular retention elections for state supreme court justices, among other judges, except under certain circumstances, including a finding that they’ve not met performance standards. New Hampshire voters are considering whether to increase the mandatory retirement age for state judges from 70 to 75. And, following a major ethics scandal last year, Coloradans are voting on a measure that would restructure how judicial ethics complaints are handled, including the creation of a disciplinary board to issue sanctions. 

Updating outdated language and symbols 

North Dakota and Nevada are voting on removing outdated language regarding mental illness from their constitutions, while South Dakotans are considering replacing male pronouns in the constitution, such as those referring to the state’s governor, with gender-neutral pronouns. After several years of discussion, Maine will decide whether to replace its state flag.

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Of all the states, it’s the smallest that could end up seeing the most change to its state governing document as a result of the 2024 election. In years ending in four, Rhode Islanders vote on whether to hold a constitutional convention. Even without a convention, however, many states will see new provisions in their constitutions after this week.

Erin Geiger Smith is a writer and editor at the Brennan Center for Justice.

Suggested Citation: Erin Geiger Smith, 2024 Ballot Measures to Watch, Sᴛᴀᴛᴇ Cᴏᴜʀᴛ Rᴇᴘᴏʀᴛ (Nov. 1, 2024), https://statecourtreport.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/2024-ballot-measures-watch