This week's question was, How many states require a simple majority to override gubernatorial vetoes?

You answered: 36.
The correct answer was 6.

All 50 states give their legislatures the ability to override gubernatorial vetoes. The authority for the override power is always included in a state's constitution, which also specifies how many legislators are needed to override a veto.

• 36 states require a two-thirds vote from both chambers of the legislature.
• Seven states require a three-fifths vote from both chambers of the legislature.
• Six states require a majority vote from both chambers of the legislature.
• Alaska requires a two-thirds vote in a joint meeting of its legislative chambers.

We've identified six states with rules that change the veto override threshold depending on the type of bill being considered: Alaska, Arizona, Illinois, Ohio, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. Bills that are subject to special rules are appropriations bills, tax bills, and emergency bills.

Depending on the state, the vote threshold required for a veto override applies to either all members elected to a chamber or to all members present in the chamber. For example, Alabama requires a majority of all elected members to override a veto, so 53 of 105 votes are needed in the state House and 18 votes of 35 votes are needed in the state Senate. Idaho, on the other hand, requires two-thirds of all members present. So, if only 30 of the state Senate's 35 members are present, the threshold to override a veto in that chamber would be 20 votes rather than the 24 that would be required if all elected members were present.

After the November 2021 elections, there were 24 state legislatures where one party had a veto-proof majority in both chambers. Sixteen of these state legislatures were controlled by Republicans and eight were controlled by Democrats. In four states—Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Maryland—one party had a veto-proof majority in the legislature and the other party held the governor's office.

Thanks for your response!