Voters decide dozens of ballot measures affecting life, death, taxes and more

By electing officials responsible for making and enforcing laws, voters in dozens of states also decide on more than 140 proposals that affect the legal way people live, work and die.

While 10 states are considering measures related to abortion or reproductive rights on Tuesday’s ballot, about a half-dozen states are considering legalizing marijuana for recreational or medical purposes. About two dozen measures focus on future elections, including several specifically banning non-citizens from voting. Other state measures affect wages, taxes, housing and education.

Many of the voting procedures were initiated by citizen petitions that bypassed state legislatures, although others were presented to voters by lawmakers.

Legalization of marijuana

Voters in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. The election is the third vote on the issue in both North and South Dakota. In Nebraska, voters are considering two measures that would legalize medical marijuana and regulate the industry.

About half of states now allow recreational marijuana, and a dozen more allow medical marijuana.

In Massachusetts, the ballot measure would legalize the possession and supervised use of natural psychedelics, including psilocybin mushrooms. It would be the third state, after Oregon and Colorado, to do so.

Immigration

Arizona’s measure in the face of a surge in immigration would make it a state crime to enter from a foreign country except at official ports of entry, and would make it a state crime for someone already in the U.S. illegally to apply for public benefits using false documents.

The border crossing measure is similar to a disputed Texas law that the U.S. Justice Department says violates federal authority.

Choosing a school

A proposed amendment to Kentucky’s constitution would allow lawmakers to use state funds to benefit private schools. Colorado’s measure would provide K-12 students with the constitutional right to choose their school.

In Nebraska, voters are deciding whether to repeal a new state law that funds private school tuition with state funds.

Most states offer some type of state-supported program to help defray the costs of private schools.

Sports betting

Missouri voters decide whether to be the last to legalize sports betting. A total of 38 states and Washington, D.C. already allow sports betting, and that number has expanded dramatically since the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for it in 2018.

Taxes

Colorado’s proposal would make it the second state after California to impose a tax on firearms and ammunition sales, with the revenues primarily earmarked for services for crime victims. The federal government already taxes gun and ammunition sales.

North Dakota voters are considering a measure to eliminate property taxes. If approved, local governments would need more than $3 billion in replacement revenue from the state every two years.

South Dakota’s solution would eliminate the state’s grocery sales tax, a move that has already been done in most other states.

Oregon’s solution would raise the minimum tax on large corporations to fund the resident tax credit.

Apartments

California voters are deciding whether to repeal a 1995 law limiting local rent control ordinances. If approved, it would open the way for local governments to expand limits on the rates landlords could charge.

A unique proposal in Arizona combines property taxes with homelessness prevention. It would allow property owners to seek a property tax refund if they incurred expenses because local authorities refused to enforce ordinances banning illegal camping, vagrancy, panhandling, public alcohol and drug use, and more.

Climate

Voters in Washington state are considering whether to repeal a 2021 law that limits greenhouse gas emissions and creates a market for companies above that threshold to purchase allowances from others. Washington was the second state after California to launch such a program.

Citizen voting

Republican-led legislatures in eight states – Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin – have proposed amendments to the state constitution that would require only citizens to vote.

A 1996 U.S. law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, and many states have already enacted similar laws. But Republicans stressed the potential for non-citizens to vote following an influx of immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Although noncitizen voting has been rare in the past, pre-election voter roll reviews identified potential noncitizens registered in several states.

Some municipalities in California, Maryland, Vermont, and Washington allow non-citizens to vote in some local elections.

Voting methods

Connecticut voters are considering whether to allow no-excuse absentee voting, joining the majority of states that already allow it.

Measures enacted in Montana and South Dakota would create open primaries in which candidates from all parties would appear on the same ballot and a certain number would advance to the general election. Measures taken in Colorado, Idaho and Nevada also proposed open primaries in which candidates from all parties participate, with a number advancing to the general election through ranked-choice voting. Oregon’s solution would require ranked-choice voting in both the primary and general elections.

Ranked-choice voting is currently used in Alaska and Maine. But Alaska voters are considering whether to repeal the Europe 2020 initiative, which established open primary and ranked-choice general elections.

Arizona voters are deciding between competing ballot proposals that would require either an open primary with all-party candidates or the state’s current partisan primary method. If both conflicting measures are adopted, the provision that receives the most votes will take effect, but this may be up to the court to decide.

Change of area

Ohio’s initiative would create a citizens’ commission to redistribute U.S. House and state legislative seats, taking that task away from elected officials.

Minimum wage

Ballot decisions in Missouri and Alaska would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour while requiring paid sick leave. California’s solution would gradually raise the minimum wage for all employers to $18 an hour.

Nebraska’s solution would require many employers to provide sick leave but would not change wages.

Massachusetts’ measure would gradually raise the minimum wage for tipped workers until it matches that of other workers. Arizona’s measure would allow tipped workers to be paid 25% less than the minimum wage, provided their total compensation exceeds the minimum wage threshold.

Assisted suicide

West Virginia voters are deciding whether to amend the state constitution to ban medically assisted suicide. Such a solution would violate provisions in 10 states and Washington, D.C., where physician-assisted suicide is allowed.