Election wrap-up: 18 of 27 ballot measures approved across the country
November 10, 2011
By Al Ortiz
Numbers are still not finalized, but with only a small percentage of votes needed to be counted, it appears 18 out of 27 ballot measures were approved during the November 8, 2011 election.
The 67 percent approval rating is slightly lower than the 81 percent rating for the 32 measures on the 2009 ballot.
This leaves only one more ballot measure to be decided this year. In Louisiana, voters will go to the polls to decide Amendment 1 on the November 19 ballot.
The proposed measure would prohibit levying new taxes or fees upon the sale or transfer of immovable property.
As far as the November 8 election:
- In the past decade not including 2011, 76 out of 78 Texas ballot measures have passed, leaving only 2.6% measures defeated. Voters defeated three measures on one ballot, a highly unusual event in Texas given the state's recent history.
- Ohio Senate Bill 5 will not become a law due to the defeat of Issue 2, scoring a victory for unions. SB 5 would have limited collective bargaining for public employees.
- Ohio Issue 3, the health care freedom amendment, was approved, showing opposition of the new federal health care law.
- The most controversial Mississippi measure, Initiative 26, the personhood amendment, was the only one of three Republican-backed measures to be defeated.
On the ballot
- 9 citizen initiatives
- 16 legislative referrals
- 2 veto referendums
Quick facts
Note: Results are still not official. The following is information from preliminary results.
- Measure that won by the most votes: Arkansas Retail Project Question (81.8%)
- Measure that lost by the most votes: Maine Question 3 (63%)
- Measure with the smallest turnout: Arkansas Retail Project Question (72,102)
- Measure with the largest turnout: Ohio Issue 2 (3,497,408)
The stats
The table below highlights the approval rating of all the measures that appeared on November 8 ballots as they stand today.
- Approval rating in 2009 is estimated at 81%
| November 8 election stats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Approved (%) | Defeated (%) | ||
| 27 | 18 (67%) | 9 (33%) | ||
See also
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