Ballot measure signature costs, 2026
Ballotpedia's cost-per-required-signature (CPRS) report analyzes the signature-gathering costs of ballot initiative campaigns. This analysis will be published in October 2026, after ballots are finalized in the 26 states that allow citizen-initiated measures and campaign finance reports covering signature-gathering periods are filed. Click here to view analyses for prior years.
Measuring initiative petition signature drive costs
Campaigns spend funds to collect signatures. Campaigns hire signature-gathering companies, utilize unpaid volunteers, or use a mix of both. States have different ballot measure signature requirements and different population sizes, resulting in varied signature drive costs across states.
This report uses two ways to measure the cost of an initiative or veto referendum petition drive:
- According to the total cost of gathering the required signatures to put an initiative on the ballot
- According to the total cost divided by the number of signatures required to qualify the measure for the ballot or cost per required signature (CPRS)
The cost per required signature (CPRS) measures the costs based on the number of signatures required. CPRS allows us to compare the signature costs to get an initiative on the ballot within a state and between states. If a campaign spends $1 million on its petition drive and the state's signature requirement is 100,000, the CPRS is $10.00. In other words, the campaign spent $10.00 per required signature to qualify the initiative for the ballot.
Factors affecting signature costs
- See also: Laws governing the initiative process
States have different requirements and restrictions for signature gathering, which can affect how expensive an initiative signature petition effort is. The total petition drive cost depends on the factors that can make a petition effort more or less expensive, including the population of the state and the state's signature requirements. This measurement does not indicate how difficult running a signature petition campaign is in a given state relative to other states. Requirements based on voter turnout, for instance, can result in different petition drive costs due to a state's population. For example, in 2016, the average cost of a successful initiative petition drive in California was $2.9 million. In Oklahoma, the average cost was about $870,000. Initiatives in California, however, required more than four times the number of signatures.
The cost-per-required-signature (CPRS) controls for the state's signature requirements and shows the cost for each signature needed for qualifying the measure for the ballot. This second measurement is a better indication of how difficult a signature drive is in a given state relative to other states. Returning to California and Oklahoma in 2016, the average CPRS in California was $6.20 and the average CPRS in Oklahoma was $9.59. However, the average total petition drive cost was $2.9 million in California and $870,000 in Oklahoma.
Greater signature requirements are an example of why initiative petition costs may be higher in one state compared to others. Other policies that can affect the cost of a petition campaign include:
- Distribution requirements - Collecting a large number of signatures in a few populous areas is more efficient than collecting a small number of signatures from multiple less-populated areas.
- Pay-per-signature bans - Paying signature gatherers by signature is likely a cost-efficient way to fund signature-gathering efforts.
- Restrictions on circulators - Restricting who can collect signatures may decrease the number of people available for signature gathering.
- Initiative petition circulation periods - Shorter signature gathering periods may increase signature drive costs.
