Ballotpedia:Analysis of the 2020 local ballot measures in top cities by population
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January 18, 2021
By The Ballot Measures Team
In 2020, Ballotpedia covered local measures that appeared on the ballot for voters within the top 100 largest cities in the U.S. This included citywide measures and countywide, special district, and school district measures on the ballot for a significant number[1] of voters within the largest cities. Ballotpedia also covered all local measures in California and all statewide ballot measures in the country.
There were 314 local measures in 26 different states and Washington, D.C., on the ballot for voters in the top 100 largest cities in the U.S. This page contains the following summaries and analyses:
- Measures by state
- Measures by outcome
- Measure by topic
- Notable topics and measures
- Measures by type
- Measures by election date
- Click here for the year-end analysis of all 719 local measures in California in 2020.
- Click here for our year-end analysis of the 129 statewide measures across 34 states in 2020.
Measures by state
Measures in California accounted for 109 (34.7%) of the local measures in the top 100 largest cities in 2020. Texas had the next highest number at 30. Twenty-three states had no measures.
The 109 measures seen by voters in the top 100 largest cities located in California was 15% of the 719 total local measures in California in 2020.
Measures by outcome
Out of the 314 total local measures in the top 100 largest cities, 252 (80.3%) were approved, and 62 (19.7%) were defeated.
Fourteen states saw 100% approval rates in 2020 for local measures in the top 100 largest cities. The one measure in Idaho—a West Ada School District property tax—was defeated giving Idaho the lowest approval rate. California, which had 34% of measures, had an approval rate of 65.1%.
Measures by topic
The 314 local measures on the ballot in the top 100 largest cities addressed more than 50 different topics. Of the total, 55.4% were bond or tax measures. Twenty-two measures (7.0%) concerned elections, campaigns, voting, and term limits. Twenty measures (6.4%) concerned law enforcement or police policies. Fifty measures (15.9%) concerned city, county, or district governance; local budgets; and public officials. Other topics addressed included labor and unions; development, zoning, and housing; gambling; and environment.
Notable topics and measures
Law enforcement
Ballotpedia identified 20 local police-related ballot measures on the ballot for November 3, 2020, that qualified following the death of George Floyd. All 20 measures were approved. The measures concerned the following topics:
- police oversight;
- the powers and structure of oversight commissions;
- police practices;
- law enforcement department structure and administration;
- reductions in or restrictions on law enforcement budgets;
- law enforcement training requirements; and
- body and dashboard camera footage.
Tax or bond measures with revenue dedicated to law enforcement were not included and are included under the tax and bond sections of this analysis.
Eighteen of the 20 measures were on the ballot for voters in the top 100 largest cities. Two other measures related to law enforcement were on the ballot for voters in the top 100 largest cities earlier in the year.
Click here to read more on local law enforcement measures in 2020.
Bond issues
There were 92 local bond measures on the ballot in the top 100 largest cities in 2020. The measures proposed a total of $32.16 billion in bond money. Voters approved 67 measures amounting to $25.567 billion. Voters rejected 25 measures amounting to $6.593 billion.
Thirty-one were city bond measures. Fifty-six were school bond measures.
Washington, D.C., Initiative 81: Entheogenic Plants and Fungus
D.C. voters approved Initiative 81 on November 3 by a vote of 76% to 24%. The measure declared that police shall treat the non-commercial cultivation, distribution, possession, and use of entheogenic plants and fungi as among the lowest law enforcement priorities. The ballot initiative defined entheogenic plants and fungi as species of plants and fungi that contain ibogaine, dimethyltryptamine, mescaline, psilocybin, or psilocyn. Examples include psilocybin mushrooms, also known as magic mushrooms or shrooms, peyote, and iboga.
Initiative 81 made D.C. the fifth city to decriminalize psilocybin and the first state to decriminalize all entheogenic plants and fungi. Going into the November 3 election Denver, Colorado; Oakland, California; Santa Cruz, California; and Ann Arbor, Michigan had passed laws that decriminalized psilocybin or changed law enforcement priorities regarding psilocybin.
Also at the November 3 election, Oregon became the first state to create a program for legal psilocybin and the first state to decriminalize all Schedule I - IV controlled substances. Click here to read more about Oregon Measure 109 and Measure 110.
Measures by type
- See also: Types of ballot measures
Fourteen of the local measures in the top 100 largest cities were citizen-initiated, which means they were put on the ballot through signature petition drives. Two hundred and ninety-eight (298) measures were referred to the ballot by local governing bodies, such as city councils, county boards, school boards, or special district boards. Two parish measures in Louisiana were put on the county ballots by the state legislature.
Measures by election date
- See also: Local ballot measure elections in 2020
Local measures were on the ballot for voters within the top 100 largest cities on 19 different election dates.
One hundred and 95 (195) measures were on the ballot on Nov. 3. There were 116 measures were on election dates before Nov. 3. Three measures were on the ballot on Dec. 5.
The 19 election dates featuring local ballot measures in the top 100 largest cities in 2020 were:
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Click here for local ballot measures by date in 2020.
See also
- Local ballot measure elections in 2020
- 2020 ballot measures
- Analysis of 2020 California local measures
- Analysis of the statewide 2020 ballot measures
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: Local measures that were on the ballot for an insignificant number (1%-5% depending on the city and state) of voters within one of the largest cities were not included.
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