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Iowa 2024 ballot measures
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U.S. House • State Senate • State House • Supreme court • Appellate courts • State ballot measures • Municipal • All other local • How to run for office |
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In 2024, two statewide ballot measures were on the ballot in Iowa for November 5.
On the ballot
| Type | Title | Description | Result | Yes Votes | No Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amendment 1 | Prohibit the state and local governments from allowing noncitizens to vote and allow 17-year-olds who will be 18 by the general election to vote in primaries |
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1,150,332 (77%) |
341,034 (23%) |
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| Amendment 2 | Provides that if the governor dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the lieutenant governor would assume the office of governor for the remainder of the term, thereby creating a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor |
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1,190,003 (81%) |
278,282 (19%) |
Getting measures on the ballot
Citizens
Iowa is one of the 24 states that do not have initiative or veto referendum processes. Thus, Iowa citizens cannot qualify a ballot measure for the statewide ballot by collecting signatures. Voters of Iowa have never voted on a ballot measure to authorize a statewide initiative and referendum process.
Legislature
To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on the ballot for voter ratification, a simple majority vote is required in both the Iowa State Senate and the Iowa House of Representatives in two successive legislative sessions with an election for state legislators in between. Every two years, half of the state senators and all of the members of the state House are up for election. Once an amendment is on the ballot, it must be approved by a simple majority of voters in order to become part of the constitution. For constitutional amendments to appear on the 2024 ballot, they must be approved during the 2021-2022 legislative session and the 2023-2024 legislative session. The state legislature adjourned the 2021-2022 legislative session on May 25, 2022.[1]
Publication process
When a constitutional amendment has passed the general assembly in the first session and thus been referred to the succeeding legislature, the state legislature is required by Article X in the Iowa Constitution to publish the amendment in two newspapers in each of Iowa's congressional districts and on the legislature's website once per month for three months.[2] Before the approval of House File 764 of 2019, this was the duty of the Secretary of State. House File 764 of 2019 also provided that a proposed amendment that has been agreed to by two succeeding sessions of the general assembly cannot be invalidated due to an error or omission in the publication process.[3]
Information on the publication of proposed constitutional amendments may be found here.
Not on the ballot
| Type | Title | Subject | Description | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LRCA | No Right to Abortion in Constitution Amendment | Abortion | States that the constitution does not provide a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion | 
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See also
