Ballot measure readability scores, 2017

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This page provides an overview of the readability scores of the ballot titles and summaries of ballot measures certified to go before voters in 2017.

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.

In 2017, there were 27 statewide ballot measures certified for ballots. Voters in states with ballot measures will read questions on their ballots asking them whether to approve or reject a measure. As the text of most ballot measures is often multiple pages of statute or constitutional law, someone is tasked in each state with writing a shorter title and summary to appear on the ballot for the measures.

HIGHLIGHTS

In 2017, the average ballot question required 20 years of U.S. formal education (graduate school-level of education) to read and comprehend, according to the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) formula.

The FKGL scores of the 27 statewide ballot measures ranged from 7 to 42 years of formal U.S. education.

The ballot titles for the four initiatives on the ballot in 2017 had a lower mean FKGL score than titles for legislative referrals. The average score for initiatives was 14. The average score for legislative referrals was 23.

Overview

2017 readability scores

The average FKGL score for 2017 ballot measure titles was 20 years of formal U.S. education. The average FRE score for 2017 ballot measure titles was 21. Both of these indices state that a graduate school-level education was required to read and comprehend the average ballot measure title in 2017.

The 2017 ballot title summaries scored lower than ballot titles, but the formulas also indicated that a graduate school-level education was required to read and comprehend the average ballot measure summary in 2017. The average FKGL score for a ballot summary was 17.5 years of formal U.S. education. The average FRE score for ballot measure summaries was 26.

The FKGL scores of the 27 statewide ballot measure titles ranged from 7 to 42 years of formal U.S. education. The average score for measure titles in each state is as follows:

• Washington: 8 years
• New Jersey: 10 years
• Ohio: 11 years

• New York: 14 years
• West Virginia: 21 years
• Louisiana: 24 years

• Maine: 25 years
• Texas: 26 years
• Pennsylvania: 30 years

The four initiatives on the ballot in 2017 had lower mean FKGL and higher FRE scores than legislative referrals for their titles and summaries. The average FKGL score for initiative titles was 14. The average FKGL score for legislative referral titles was 23.

Depending on the state and type of ballot measure, different entities or persons are responsible for writing the questions for ballot measures. For questions written by state executive officials—either the secretary of state or attorney general—ballot measure titles had an average FKGL score of 15. For ballot measure titles written by state election boards, such as the Ohio Ballot Board or New York Board of Elections, the average score was 11. State legislatures were responsible for writing 16 ballot measure titles, and these questions had an average FKGL score of 24 years of U.S. formal education.

Historical readability scores

Ballot language readability analsyes Ballot measure readability scores, 2025 Ballot measure readability scores, 2024 Ballot measure readability scores, 2023 Ballot measure readability scores, 2022 Ballot measure readability scores, 2021 Ballot measure readability scores, 2020 Ballot measure readability scores, 2019 Ballot measure readability scores, 2018 Ballot measure readability scores, 2017

Political scientists Shauna Reilly and Sean Richey conducted a study of 1,211 statewide ballot measures from 1997 to 2007 and concluded that more voters skipped voting on ballot measures when the titles and summaries were harder to read. To conduct the analysis, Reilly and Richey found the readability scores of the measures using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formula. They found that:

• Oklahoma measures had the lowest average readability score at grade level 9.
• New Mexico measures had the highest average readability score at grade level 28.
• Colorado had both the highest score and lowest score for individual measures, with one at grade level 5 and one at grade level 95. Colorado had the second-highest level of variation in readability scores between measures.
• Only four states—Oklahoma, Connecticut, North Carolina, and South Dakota—had average readability scores equivalent to a high school grade level (9-12) in the U.S. All other states measured had scores above a high school grade level.

Readability index details

Ballotpedia uses two formulas, the Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), to compute scores for the titles and summaries of ballot measures. The FRE formula produces a score between a negative number and 100, with the highest score (100) representing a 5th-grade equivalent reading level and scores at or below zero representing college graduate-equivalent reading level. Therefore, the higher the score, the easier the text is to read. The FKGL formula produces a score equivalent to the estimated number of years of U.S. education required to understand a text. A score of five estimates that a U.S. 5th grade student would be able to read and comprehend a text, while a score of 20 estimates that a person with 20 years of U.S. formal education would be able to read and comprehend a text. Ballotpedia uses Readable.io to calculate the scores.

Learn more about these formulas in the formulas section below.

2017 readability scores

Readability scores by state

The following tables provides the FKGL grade level score, FRE reading ease score, and word count for the title and summary of each ballot measure in each state.

Louisiana

In Louisiana, the state legislature wrote the ballot title for each measure, and the secretary of state wrote the ballot summary for each measure.

The average FKGL score for the ballot titles was 24 years of formal U.S. education. The average FRE score for the ballot titles was 5. The average FKGL score for the ballot summaries was 24 years of formal U.S. education. The average FRE score for the ballot titles was 7.

Ballot Measure:	Title grade:	Title ease:	Title word count:	Summary grade:	Summary ease:	Summary word count:
Louisiana Amendment 1	16	31.5	29	19	19	159
Louisiana Amendment 2	27	-7	53	29	0	247
Louisiana Amendment 3	29	-10	57	25	2	239
Averages:	24	5	46	24	7	215

Maine

In Maine, the state legislature wrote the ballot title for the legislative referrals, and the secretary of state wrote the ballot title for the citizen initiatives.

The average FKGL score for the ballot titles was 25 years of formal U.S. education. The average FRE score for the ballot titles was 18.

Ballot Measure:	Title grade:	Title ease:	Title word count:	Summary grade:	Summary ease:	Summary word count:
Maine Question 1	18	37	39	N/A	N/A	N/A
Maine Question 1	42	-26	101	N/A	N/A	N/A
Maine Question 2	16	50	39	N/A	N/A	N/A
Maine Question 4	20	25.5	43	N/A	N/A	N/A
Maine Question 3	27	5	59	N/A	N/A	N/A
Averages:	25	18	56	N/A	N/A	N/A

New Jersey

In New Jersey, the state legislature wrote the ballot title and ballot summary for each measure.

The average FKGL score for the ballot titles was 10 years of formal U.S. education. The average FRE score for the ballot titles was 52. The average FKGL score for the ballot summaries was 12 years of formal U.S. education. The average FRE score for the ballot titles was 43.

Ballot Measure:	Title grade:	Title ease:	Title word count:	Summary grade:	Summary ease:	Summary word count:
New Jersey Public Question 2	12.5	43	63	12	45	95
New Jersey Public Question 1	8	61	59	11.5	40	78
Averages:	10	52	61	12	43	87

New York

In New York, the state board of elections wrote the ballot title and ballot summary for each measure.

The average FKGL score for the ballot titles was 14 years of formal U.S. education. The average FRE score for the ballot titles was 41. The average FKGL score for the ballot summaries was 15 years of formal U.S. education. The average FRE score for the ballot titles was 34.

Ballot Measure:	Title grade:	Title ease:	Title word count:	Summary grade:	Summary ease:	Summary word count:
New York Proposal 1	8	63.5	13	14	38	345
New York Proposal 3	19	25	108	16	36	297
New York Proposal 2	15	34	54	15	28	325
Averages:	14	41	58	15	34	322

Ohio

In Ohio, the state ballot board wrote the ballot title and ballot summary for each measure.

The average FKGL score for the ballot titles was 11 years of formal U.S. education. The average FRE score for the ballot titles was 48.

Ballot Measure:	Title grade:	Title ease:	Title word count:	Summary grade:	Summary ease:	Summary word count:
Ohio Issue 2	11	44	139	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ohio Issue 1	10	52	211	N/A	N/A	N/A
Averages:	11	48	175	N/A	N/A	N/A

Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, the secretary of state wrote the ballot title for the measure, and the attorney general wrote the ballot summary for the measure.

The average FKGL score for the ballot titles was 30 years of formal U.S. education. The average FRE score for the ballot titles was -13. The average FKGL score for the ballot summaries was 18 years of formal U.S. education. The average FRE score for the ballot titles was 25.

Ballot Measure:	Title grade:	Title ease:	Title word count:	Summary grade:	Summary ease:	Summary word count:
Pennsylvania Homestead Exemption Amendment	30	-13	60	18	25	376
Averages:	30	-13	60	18	25	376

Texas

In Texas, the state legislature wrote the ballot title for each measure.

The average FKGL score for the ballot titles was 25 years of formal U.S. education. The average FRE score for the ballot titles was -13.

Ballot Measure:	Title grade:	Title ease:	Title word count:	Summary grade:	Summary ease:	Summary word count:
Texas Proposition 7	19.5	-4	23	N/A	N/A	N/A
Texas Proposition 4	26	-10	47	N/A	N/A	N/A
Texas Proposition 6	23	15	46	N/A	N/A	N/A
Texas Proposition 3	18	13	27	N/A	N/A	N/A
Texas Proposition 5	21.5	-38	12	N/A	N/A	N/A
Texas Proposition 1	36	-38	72	N/A	N/A	N/A
Texas Proposition 2	34	-27.5	69	N/A	N/A	N/A
Averages:	25	-13	42	N/A	N/A	N/A

Washington

In Washington, the attorney general wrote the ballot title for each measure.

The average FKGL score for the ballot titles was 8 years of formal U.S. education. The average FRE score for the ballot titles was 70.

Ballot Measure:	Title grade:	Title ease:	Title word count:	Summary grade:	Summary ease:	Summary word count:
Washington Advisory Vote 18	7	71	31	N/A	N/A	N/A
Washington Advisory Vote 17	9.5	60	37	N/A	N/A	N/A
Washington Advisory Vote 16	7	78	37	N/A	N/A	N/A
Averages:	8	70	35	N/A	N/A	N/A

West Virginia

In West Virginia, the state legislature wrote the ballot title for the measure.

The FKGL score for the ballot title was 21 years of formal U.S. education. The FRE score for the ballot title was 33.

Ballot Measure:	Title grade:	Title ease:	Title word count:	Summary grade:	Summary ease:	Summary word count:
West Virginia Amendment 1	21	33	49	N/A	N/A	N/A
Averages:	21	33	49	N/A	N/A	N/A

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. The FRE computes a score based on the number of syllables, number of words, and number of sentences in a text. The FRE formula is as follows:

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:

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, number of words, and number of sentences in a text. The FKGL formula is as follows:

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.

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:

“

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.

”

Prior research

Ballot Question Readability and Roll-off: The Impact of Language Complexity

In 2011, political scientists Shauna Reilly and Sean Richey published an article in Political Research Quarterly on research they conducted to answer the question of whether the difficulty or complexity of ballot measure language correlated with voters skipping voting on a ballot measure. The authors referred to voters casting ballots but skipping a ballot measure as voter roll-off. To measure the difficulty or complexity of ballot measure language, Reilly and Richey calculated Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level scores for 1,211 statewide ballot measures from 1997 to 2007. Reilly and Richey concluded that lower readability scores correlated with higher rates of voter roll-off. In their model accounting for state and year variations, Reilly and Richey only found one variable with a stronger influence on voter roll-off than readability—whether or not a ballot measure was on a primary election ballot compared to a special election ballot.

Reilly and Richey calculated the mean Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score for each state, except Arkansas, Illinois, and West Virginia, with at least one ballot measure during the 10-year period from 1997 to 2007. The state with the highest mean score was New Mexico, which had a mean FKGL score of 28 years of education. The state with the lowest mean score was Oklahoma, which had a mean FKGL score of nine years of education. The following table is from Reilly and Richey's research and contains the number of ballot measures analyzed in each state, the mean, minimum, and maximum readability score of measures in each state, and the standard deviation of the readability scores for measures in each state:

State	Measures	Mean	Mean U.S. equivalent	Standard deviation	Minimum	Maximum
Oklahoma	38	9	High school	1.1	7	12
Connecticut	1	11	High school	0	11	11
North Carolina	1	11	High school	0	11	11
South Dakota	36	12	High school	2.1	7	17
Alaska	30	13	Associate's degree	5.3	8	30
California	105	13	Associate's degree	1.8	9	18
North Dakota	13	13	Associate's degree	2.8	9	18
Idaho	16	14	Associate's degree	2.3	12	20
Iowa	5	14	Associate's degree	4	11	21
Massachusetts	18	14	Associate's degree	2.1	10	19
Michigan	18	14	Associate's degree	3.1	9	21
Mississippi	3	14	Associate's degree	5	8	18
Oregon	94	14	Associate's degree	1.7	11	18
Rhode Island	35	14	Associate's degree	6.1	6	33
Washington	57	15	Bachelor's degree	2.8	10	22
Montana	29	16	Bachelor's degree	7.4	11	52
New Hampshire	8	16	Bachelor's degree	5	10	27
Utah	6	16	Bachelor's degree	5.3	10	24
Arizona	70	17	Master's degree	3.1	11	26
Florida	40	17	Master's degree	5	8	38
Indiana	6	17	Master's degree	3.5	13	23
Louisiana	61	17	Master's degree	6.8	8	44
Ohio	19	17	Master's degree	4.9	9	30
Tennessee	6	17	Master's degree	5.8	10	25
Vermont	1	17	Master's degree	0	17	17
Alabama	32	18	Master's degree	6.4	12	35
Kansas	4	18	Master's degree	1.7	16	20
Maine	66	18	Master's degree	6.6	8	37
Nebraska	37	18	Master's degree	3.4	11	25
Wyoming	12	18	Master's degree	12	12	25
Missouri	27	19	Ph.D.	8.2	8	44
Nevada	36	19	Ph.D.	6.4	11	42
New York	8	19	Ph.D.	8.3	8	35
Maryland	11	20	Ph.D.	4.1	13	26
Texas	84	20	Ph.D.	12	12	45
Wisconsin	3	20	Ph.D.	16.6	17	23
Georgia	33	22	Ph.D.	10.4	10	57
Hawaii	10	22	Ph.D.	10.9	10	44
Kentucky	7	22	Ph.D.	6.1	14	30
Virginia	3	22	Ph.D.	3.2	19	25
New Jersey	20	23	Ph.D.	6.6	13	34
Pennsylvania	6	24	Ph.D.	5.4	17	33
South Carolina	19	25	Post-Ph.D.	10.8	16	63
Minnesota	1	26	Post-Ph.D.	0	26	26
Colorado	62	27	Post-Ph.D.	15.2	5	95
New Mexico	14	28	Post-Ph.D.	9.3	12	39
Arkansas	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Illinois	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
West Virginia	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

See also

• 2017 ballot measures
• Ballot title

External links

• Readable.io

Additional reading

• Reilly, Shauna, and Sean Richey. "Ballot Question Readability and Roll-off: The Impact of Language Complexity." Political Research Quarterly 64, 1. (2011): 59-67.