Ballot measure readability analyses
This page compiles annual analyses of readability scores for statewide ballot measures. Each year's analysis estimates the reading difficulty for a statewide ballot measure question and summary.
Since 2017, Ballotpedia has tracked the readability scores of statewide ballot measures using Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL). A readability score is an estimation of the reading difficulty of a text. Measurements used in calculating readability scores include the number of syllables, words, and sentences in a text. Other factors, such as the complexity of an idea in a text, are not reflected in readability scores.
Between 2017 and 2025, voters decided on 644 statewide ballot measures. The average readability score for ballot titles, also known as ballot questions, was 18 years of education, and the average word count was 66 words.
This page includes:
- a list of annual ballot measure readability analyses;
- a comparison of readability scores per year, author, and state;
- a list of the 10 highest ballot measure readability scores; and
- information on the formulas used to calculate readability.
Years
Click on a year to view that year's state ballot measures readability analysis.
- 2026
- 2025Average title grade: 21
Number of measures: 30 - 2024Average title grade: 16
Number of measures: 159 - 2023Average title grade: 19
Number of measures: 41 - 2022Average title grade: 19
Number of measures: 140 - 2021Average title grade: 18
Number of measures: 39 - 2020Average title grade: 17
Number of measures: 129 - 2019Average title grade: 15
Number of measures: 32 - 2018Average title grade: 20
Number of measures: 167 - 2017Average title grade: 20
Number of measures: 27
Analyses
Readability scores by year
The following table shows the average ballot title grade, word counts, summary grade, and the number of measures appearing on ballots between 2017 and 2025. The year with the lowest ballot title grade was 2019, with 15 years of education, and the year with the highest was 2025, with 21 years of education.
Readability scores by author
Each state assigns a person or group to write a ballot question and/or summary for voters to read on the ballot. The responsibility for drafting this language varies by state. In some states, different offices or individuals draft the language for different measures.
State legislatures wrote the most ballot titles since 2017 for 316 ballot measures, with an average grade title of 20 years of education. Ballot titles written by the Colorado Title Board had the highest average grade level at 31 years. The table below lists the various authors, the average title grade and word count, and the number of measures written by each type of author.
| Author | Average Title Grade | Average Title Words | Measures |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Legislature | 20 | 61 | 316 |
| Attorney General | 15 | 40 | 120 |
| Secretary of State | 18 | 77 | 93 |
| State Board | 18 | 139 | 32 |
| Initiative Proponents/Petitioners | 16 | 128 | 23 |
| Colorado Title Board | 31 | 113 | 15 |
| Office of Legislative Research (Utah) | 15 | 63 | 12 |
| Lieutenant Governor | 10 | 64 | 8 |
| Florida Constitution Revision Commission | 10 | 8 | 7 |
| NC Constitutional Amendments Commission | 21 | 32 | 6 |
| New York Board of Elections | 14 | 47 | 5 |
| Constitution | 9 | 11 | 4 |
| Missouri Court of Appeals | 14 | 76 | 1 |
| Ohio Ballot Board | 15 | 119 | 1 |
| Legislative Drafting Committee | 16 | 216 | 1 |
Readability scores by state
The following table provides the average readability grade levels for ballot titles by state. The lowest average score was nine in New Hampshire, which had five measures on the ballot, and the highest average score was 28 in Georgia and South Carolina, which had 14 and four ballot measures on the ballot, respectively.
| State | Average Title Grade | Average Title Words | Measures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 27 | 72 | 25 |
| Alaska | 11 | 59 | 6 |
| Arizona | 15 | 73 | 29 |
| Arkansas | 23 | 106 | 10 |
| California | 15 | 15 | 42 |
| Colorado | 27 | 95 | 51 |
| Connecticut | 13 | 20 | 2 |
| Florida | 13 | 11 | 22 |
| Georgia | 28 | 58 | 14 |
| Hawaii | 14 | 23 | 3 |
| Idaho | 23 | 53 | 6 |
| Illinois | 19 | 57 | 4 |
| Indiana | 25 | 52 | 2 |
| Iowa | 12 | 119 | 4 |
| Kansas | 13 | 148 | 3 |
| Kentucky | 25 | 109 | 6 |
| Louisiana | 18 | 41 | 41 |
| Maine | 21 | 49 | 34 |
| Maryland | 16 | 89 | 9 |
| Massachusetts | 11 | 25 | 13 |
| Michigan | 19 | 32 | 8 |
| Minnesota | 10 | 128 | 1 |
| Mississippi | 15 | 28 | 2 |
| Missouri | 14 | 92 | 22 |
| Montana | 14 | 109 | 12 |
| Nebraska | 18 | 55 | 11 |
| Nevada | 25 | 59 | 16 |
| New Hampshire | 9 | 102 | 5 |
| New Jersey | 13 | 64 | 3 |
| New Mexico | 25 | 81 | 22 |
| New York | 13 | 54 | 13 |
| North Carolina | 20 | 33 | 7 |
| North Dakota | 15 | 176 | 13 |
| Ohio | 13 | 286 | 11 |
| Oklahoma | 13 | 147 | 13 |
| Oregon | 14 | 85 | 17 |
| Pennsylvania | 19 | 69 | 3 |
| Rhode Island | 14 | 43 | 15 |
| South Carolina | 28 | 83 | 4 |
| South Dakota | 18 | 21 | 15 |
| Tennessee | 17 | 147 | 4 |
| Texas | 21 | 34 | 44 |
| Utah | 14 | 60 | 16 |
| Vermont | 14 | 101 | 2 |
| Virginia | 19 | 37 | 2 |
| Washington | 11 | 46 | 15 |
| West Virginia | 18 | 37 | 7 |
| Wisconsin | 17 | 45 | 11 |
| Wyoming | 14 | 53 | 4 |
Top 10 title grade scores
The following table displays the 10 ballot measures with the highest title grades between 2017 and 2025, with education levels ranging from 43 to 76 years. Five of the 10 ballot measures were on statewide ballots in Colorado.
Formulas
The Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formulas use the same variables and are inversely correlated, meaning that as one increases the other decreases.
Flesch Reading Ease
In the 1940s, Rudolf Flesch developed the Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) test. The U.S. Department of Defense uses the FRE to help craft its documents and manuals.[1] The FRE computes a score based on the number of syllables, the number of words, and the number of sentences in a text. The FRE formula is as follows:[2]
The FRE formula was designed to produce a score between 0 and 100, with the highest score (100) representing a 5th-grade equivalent reading level and the lowest score (0) representing college graduate-equivalent reading level. However, a score can be negative, representing increased difficulty. Therefore, the higher the score, the easier the text is to read. Rudolf Flesch created the following guide to interpreting FRE scores:[2]
| Score | School level |
|---|---|
| 90 to 100 | 5th grade |
| 80 to 90 | 6th grade |
| 70 to 80 | 7th grade |
| 60 to 70 | 8th and 9th grade |
| 50 to 60 | 10th to 12th grade |
| 30 to 50 | College |
| 0 to 30 | College graduate |
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
In 1975, J. Peter Kincaid recalculated FRE to give a score in the form of a U.S. school grade level for use by the U.S. Navy. This new formula became known as the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) test. Like FRE, the FKGL computes a score based on the number of syllables, the number of words, and the number of sentences in a text. The FKGL formula is as follows:[3]
The FKGL produces a score equivalent to the estimated number of years of education required to understand a text. A score of 9 estimates that a U.S. 9th grade student would be able to read and comprehend a text, while a score of 18 estimates that a person with 18 years of U.S. formal education would be able to read and comprehend a text.[4]
Limitations
As the FRE and FKGL, along with other readability tests, do not measure the difficulty or complexity of the ideas expressed in ballot measure titles and summaries, they may underestimate or overestimate the ability of voters to comprehend a text. Political scientist Shauna Reilly, who utilizes readability indices in her research, noted their limitations, stating:[1]
| “ | There are limitations to the value of these measurements. No mathematical formula can tell us how complex the ideas of the passage are nor whether the content is in a logical order. Further, these mathematical equations exist in a vacuum and cannot explain the context of the passage.[5] | ” |
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Reilly, S. (2015). "Language Assistance under the Voting Rights Act: Are Voters Lost in Translation?" Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. (pages 55-56)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 University of Canterbury, "How to Write Plain English," accessed April 19, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Naval Technical Training Command, "Derivation of new readability formulas (Automated Readability Index, Fog Count, and Flesch Reading Ease Formula) for Navy enlisted personnel," February 1975
- ↑ Reilly, Shauna, and Sean Richey. "Ballot Question Readability and Roll-off: The Impact of Language Complexity." Political Research Quarterly 64, 1. (2011): 59-67.
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
