Life, death, crime and taxes will be on ballots for voters to decide this fall.
More than 140 measures are going before voters in 41 states during the general election alongside choices for president and other top offices. The ballot questions will give voters a chance to directly decide some consequential issues, instead of deferring to their elected representatives.
Arizona, Colorado and California have the greatest number of ballot measures. More could still get placed on ballots in some states. And some measures could get bumped from ballots if pending lawsuits are successful.
Here’s a look at some of this year’s top ballot issues.
Initiatives dealing with pregnancy have surged in response to the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended a nationwide right to abortion and shifted the issue to states.
At least nine states will consider constitutional amendments enshrining abortion rights — Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota. Most would guarantee a right to abortion until fetal viability and allow it later for the health of the pregnant woman.
Nebraska is the only state with a competing measure. It would place into the constitution the state’s current 12-week abortion ban with exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the pregnant woman. If both pass, the one with the most votes will take effect.
A proposed amendment in New York doesn’t specifically mention abortion but would prohibit discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes” and “reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”
A proposed West Virginia amendment to prohibit medically assisted suicide is the only such measure this year. Physician-assisted suicides are allowed in 10 states and Washington, D.C.
Republican-led legislatures in eight states proposed amendments declaring that only citizens can vote.
A 1996 U.S. law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, and many states already have similar laws. Yet specific constitutional bans are being proposed in Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin. The measures are part of a Republican emphasis on immigration and election integrity.
Though there is no indication of widespread voting by noncitizens, some municipalities in California, Maryland, Vermont and Washington, D.C. do allow it for certain local elections.
A California proposal would toughen punishments for repeat shoplifters and fentanyl dealers and create a new drug court treatment program for people with multiple drug possession convictions. The measure would reverse portions of a 2014 initiative that reduced penalties for nonviolent drug and property crimes to address prison overcrowding. The latest measure comes after a surge of groups committing smash-and-grab thefts at stores.
An Arizona measure would require life imprisonment for certain child sex trafficking convictions. Two Colorado proposals would deny bail in first-degree murder cases and lengthen mandatory prison terms before parole eligibility for people convicted of certain violent crimes.
Measures in Idaho, Montana, Nevada and South Dakota would create open primary elections, in which candidates from all parties appear on the same ballot and a certain number advance to the general election. Arizona voters will decide between competing proposals that would require either open primaries or the state’s current method of partisan primaries. If both pass, the one with the most votes will take effect.
A Florida measure would expand partisan elections to school boards, reversing a 1998 amendment that made them officially nonpartisan, removing party labels from ballots.
Measures in Idaho, Nevada and Oregon propose ranked choice voting, in which voters rank their preferences for candidates, with votes cast for the lowest-finishing candidates getting reallocated until one person obtains a majority.
Ranked choice voting currently is used in Alaska and Maine. But Alaska voters will consider whether to repeal provisions of a 2020 initiative that instituted open primaries and ranked choice general elections. Missouri’s citizens-voting measure also would ban ranked choice voting.
A Connecticut amendment would authorize no-excuse absentee voting. A Nevada proposal would require photo identification to vote in-person or the last four-digits of a driver’s license or Social Security number to vote by mail. If approved, the Nevada measure would require a second affirmative vote in 2026 to take effect.
A Colorado proposal would make it the second state after California to impose a sales tax on firearms and ammunition. Revenue would go primarily to crime victims’ services. The federal government already taxes sales of guns and ammunition.
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