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New Jersey 2020 ballot measures
- Election date: Nov. 3
- Registration deadline(s): Oct. 13
- Online registration: Yes
- Same-day registration: No
- Recount laws
- Early voting starts: N/A
- Absentee/mail voting deadline(s): Nov. 3 (postmarked); Nov. 10 (received)
- Processing, counting, and challenging absentee/mail-in ballots
- Voter ID: No ID
- Poll times: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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Three statewide ballot measures were certified for the ballot in New Jersey for November 3, 2020.
On the ballot
| Type | Title | Subject | Description | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LRCA | Public Question 1 | Marijuana | Legalizes the posession and use of marijuana |  |
| LRCA | Public Question 2 | Taxes | Makes peacetime veterans eligible to receive the veterans' property tax deduction | |
| LRCA | Public Question 3 | Redistricting | Delays the state legislative redistricting process and use of new districts if census data is received after February 15 | |
Summary of campaign contributions
- See also: Ballot measure campaign finance, 2020
The following chart illustrates how much support and opposition committees received in campaign contributions for each measure on the ballot:
| Ballot Measure: | Support contributions: | Opposition contributions: | Outcome: |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey Public Question 1 | $ | $ | |
Getting measures on the ballot
Citizens
In New Jersey, citizens do not have the power to initiate statewide initiatives or referendums. As of 2020, voters of New Jersey had never voted on a ballot measure to authorize a statewide initiative and referendum process.
Legislature
The New Jersey State Legislature can refer statewide ballot measures, in the form of constitutional amendments and state statutes, to the ballot in odd-numbered years and even-numbered years. In New Jersey, the most common form of referred statute is the bond issue.
The New Jersey Constitution provides two legislative methods for referring a constitutional amendment to the ballot. First, the legislature can refer an amendment to the ballot through a 60 percent vote of both chambers during one legislative session. Second, the legislature can refer an amendment through a simple majority vote (50%+1) in each legislative chamber during two successive legislative sessions. The governor's signature is not needed to refer an amendment.
Referring a state statute requires a simple majority vote of each legislative chamber and the governor's signature.
Referral of 2020 ballot measures
The following table illustrates the vote requirements for the legislative referrals certified for the ballot, the votes that the referrals received, and how Democrats and Republicans voted on the referrals in each legislative chamber:
| New Jersey Public Question 1: Marijuana Legalization Amendment | Democrats | Republicans | |||
| Senate: | Required: 24 | Yes votes: 24 (60.00%) | No votes: 16 (40.00%) | Yes: 23; No: 2 | Yes: 1; No: 14 |
| House: | Required: 48 | Yes votes: 49 (61.25%) | No votes: 24 (30.00%) | Yes: 49; No: 2 | Yes: 0; No: 22 |
Historical facts
- See also: List of New Jersey ballot measures
Between 1995 and 2018, the following occurred in New Jersey:
- Ballots featured 45 ballot measures.
- An average of between one and two measures appeared on even-year statewide ballots.
- Voters approved 91.1 percent (41 of 45) and rejected 8.9 percent (4 of 45) of the total ballot measures.
- Voters approved 90.3 percent (28 of 31) and rejected 9.7 percent (3 of 31) of the constitutional amendments.
- Voters approved 92.9 percent (13 of 14) and rejected 7.1 percent (1 of 14) of the bond issues.
| Ballot measures in New Jersey, 1995-2018 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Total number | Approved | Percent approved | Defeated | Percent defeated | Even-year average | Even-year median | Even-year minimum | Even-year maximum | |
| All measures | 45 | 41 | 91.11% | 4 | 8.89% | 1.67 | 2.00 | 0 | 3 | |
| Amendments | 31 | 28 | 90.32% | 3 | 9.68% | 1.33 | 1.50 | 0 | 3 | |
| Bond issues | 14 | 13 | 92.86% | 1 | 7.14% | 0.33 | 0.00 | 0 | 1 | |
Local ballot measures
In 2020, Ballotpedia covered local measures that appeared on the ballot for voters within the top 100 largest cities in the U.S. and a selection of notable police-related and election-related measures outside of the top 100 largest cities. Ballotpedia also covered all local measures in California and all statewide ballot measures. Click here to see the scope of Ballotpedia local ballot measure coverage by year.
Click here for more information about local ballot measures on the November 2020 ballot in New Jersey.
Voter guides
2020 State Cannabis Voter Guides
See also
External links
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