Ballotpedia:Analysis of the 2012 ballot measures

2013 analysis → ← 2011 analysis

This page is a research report about 2012 ballot measures.

Statistical summary

The charts below includes all election results including November 6.

2012 ballot measures

Tuesday Count • 2012 Scorecard

Potential measures • Calendar

2012 election stats
Total	Approved (%)	Defeated (%)
188	118 (62.7%)	67 (35.6%)

Initiated measures

Initiatives	Amendments	Statutes	Approved	Rejected
50	20	30	19	29

Legislative and other referrals

Referrals	Amendments	Statutes	Approved	Rejected
119	99	20	89	30

Veto referendums

Referendums	Approved	Rejected
13	7	5

Advisory questions

Questions	Approved	Rejected
3	3	0

Constitutional convention questions

Questions	Approved	Rejected
3	0	3

Citizen initiative changes

See also: Chart of 2012 ballot measure changes

Nine of the twenty-six I&R states did not have any citizen initiatives on their 2012 ballot. Of the thirty-nine total states with measures on the ballot, twenty-five were initiative and referendum states. The following were I&R states with ballot measures in 2012, but without citizen initiatives: Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming. The ninth I&R state, Mississippi, did not have any measures on the ballot whatsoever.

• A total of thirteen more citizen initiatives appeared in 2012 than in 2010.
• The following statistics include veto referendums.

	# of initiatives in 2010	# of initiatives in 2012	Change between the two years
Totals:	50	63	+13

Legislative referral changes

See also: Chart of 2012 ballot measure changes

In total 2010 featured 134 legislative referrals, while 2012 featured 125. 2012 had 9 fewer referrals on the ballot than 2010. Oklahoma (-4) and Florida (+7) had the most significant changes in the number legislative referrals on the ballot.

Of the thirty-four states that featured legislative measures on either 2010 and/or 2012, not a single one featured a double digit number of referrals on both the 2010 and 2012 ballots.

• Three states did not have legislative referrals on the ballot in 2012, but did in 2010. The states included: Vermont, Tennessee, and Iowa.

• With two in 2012, Minnesota doubled the total of ballot measures it has seen since 2000.

• The following statistics include automatic ballot referrals and advisory questions.

	# of referrals in 2010	# of referrals in 2012	Change between the two years
Totals:	134	125	-9

Initiative activity

See also: Chart of 2012 initiative activity

In total, there are 26 states with some form of direct democracy. This year, for all measures on the ballot, a total of 17 initiative and referendum states had measures up for a public vote. However, before those measures are placed on the ballot, they must be filed and proposed to their state election officials before they can circulate for signatures.

This means that some initiative efforts can fail in a numerous amount of ways - unconstitutional ballot text, shortage of valid signatures, missed deadlines, etc. For those reasons, not all measures filed make the ballot.

In 2012, a grand total of 566 initiatives were filed with intent to circulate for signature gathering. Of those 566 initiatives, only 63 made it on the ballot. Those 63 include veto referendums. In the findings below, we took a deeper look at the filed initiatives, those that were certified, and the a breakdown of measures that were proposed in each state.

This analysis did not include legislative proposals or referrals to the ballot.

	# of initiatives proposed	# initiatives certified in 2012	% certified
Totals:	566	63	11.1%

Quick stats:

• The 11.1% of measures certified for the ballot is the highest in three years. 2010 and 2011 both had rates of around 8%
• All three proposed Maryland measures were certified for the ballot.
• Florida, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada and Oklahoma all had proposed measures fail to make the ballot.
• The second lowest certification rate was in Missouri, where 80 measures were proposed, but only 2 made the ballot.
• The highest number of measures proposed was in California with 87, followed by Washington with 84.

For more on this breakdown, visit Ballotpedia's initiative activity page.

Issues on the ballot

See also: Chart of 2012 ballot measure issues

Issues in 2012 were vast and diverse, with social issues taking over the ballot this year. Marriage, marijuana, health care and other high-profile issues were on center stage, with those measures garnering a significant amount of media coverage.

However, the issue of taxes reigned supreme once more, with 33 measures on the ballot. In 2011, 8 measures dealt with taxes, the most for that year. In 2010, 40 measures dealing with taxes were placed on the ballot, the most for that year as well.

Coming in second was the topic of administration of government at 21, followed by bond issues with 19. More on those bond issues can be found here.

More on the breakdown of 2012 ballot measure topics can be found here.

The chart below highlights the most popular issues for 2012:

Top Issues	# measures per issue
Taxes	33
Administration of government	21
Bond issues	19
Education	13
Elections	7
Gambling	7

2012 Campaign contributions

2012 post-election ballot measure campaign contributions

A total of 188 ballot questions were certified for 39 statewide ballots in 2012, however only 83 ballot measures have had any type of campaign finance activity. A total of $491,026,994.64 was contributed to ballot measures in 2012, according to official reports filed as of December 2012.

Statewide

• Highest statewide contributions: California ($305,170,217.71)
• Lowest statewide contributions: Montana ($3,672.65)

Measures

Top five:

• California Proposition 30 - $104,324,782.03
• California Proposition 37 - $48,893,122.84
• California Proposition 38 - $47,295,437.29
• California Proposition 39 - $28,248,681.46
• Maryland Question 7 - $17,600,883.66

Bottom five:

• Alabama Amendment 3 - $5,853
• Missouri Proposition A - $3,955.8
• Montana IR 124 - $3,672.65
• Maine Question 4 - $1,500
• Maine Question 5 - $1,500

Bond and tax issue approval

Bond and tax issue approval on the ballot in 2012

Bond issues

Bonds in 2012
Total bond measures:	16
Approved:	15
Defeated:	1

The following are statistics of bond issues that were one the ballot in 2012. Only ballot measures that specified the amount of bonds that would be issued in its ballot text were included in this study:

The following chart shows the total amount of potential authorized bonds that were on the ballot in 2012, how much money was approved and how much was defeated.

Bond issues appeared in Alabama, Alaska, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico and Rhode Island.

Click here for a comparison between 2008 and 2010.

Total amount on 2012 ballot	Approved total amount	Defeated total amount
$2,370,089,500	$2,359,089,500	$11,000,000

Tax issues

22 measures dealing with taxes were on the ballot in 2012, not including process for exemption, relating to allocation of certain taxes, tax credits or returns. Only included were measures that specified the implementation of certain state taxes.

Tax proposals	Business	Cigarette	Income	Inheritance	Property	Real estate	Sales	Approved a	Defeated d
Ban	-	-	1	1	-	1	-	1	2
Break	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	1
Cap	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	0
Decrease	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	0
Discount	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	0
Establishment	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	2	0
Exemption	-	-	-	-	7	-	-	5	2
Increase	-	2	2	-	-	-	2	2	3
Renewal	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	0	1

Measures throughout the years

The chart below highlights the numbers of measures that appeared on the ballot from 2000 through 2012. This includes all citizen initiatives (initiated state statutes, initiated constitutional amendments and veto referendums) , legislative referrals (legislatively referred constitutional amendments and legislatively referred state statutes), and advisory measures.

Legend      Highest in the category

Year	Initiatives	Legislative referrals	Other measures	TOTAL
2012	63	122	3	188
2011	12	22	0	34
2010	50	130	4	184
2009	8	24	0	32
2008	74	92	8	174
2007	4	39	1	44
2006	83	140	3	226
2005	19	26	0	45
2004	65	107	1	173
2003	7	60	1	68
2002	55	162	6	223
2001	4	35	0	39
2000	82	151	2	235