State Ballot Measure Monthly: October 2019
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By Ballot Measures Project staff
This edition of the State Ballot Measure Monthly covers certifications and a selection of notable ballot measure news from September 17 through October 15. Statewide measures for the November 5 ballot are finalized. Voters in eight states will decide 24 binding statewide measures. Washington voters will also decide 12 advisory questions on 2019 bills that increased tax revenue. Two statewide measures were certified for the November 2020 ballot as well. Forty-one measures in 19 states have been certified for 2020 so far.
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Number of certifications in past years:
- 2017: By the third Tuesday in August, 27 measures had been certified for the 2017 ballot. No more measures were added to the ballot.
- The 27 measures of 2017 set a seven-decade record for the lowest number of statewide measures certified for an odd-numbered year ballot.
- 2015: By the second Tuesday in August, 28 measures had been certified for the 2015 ballot.
- No more measures were added to the ballot above the 28 certified by the second Tuesday in August.
- 2013: By the second Tuesday in September, 31 measures had been certified for the 2013 ballot.
- No more measures were added to the ballot above the 31 certified by the second Tuesday in September.
- 2011: By the first Tuesday in September, 34 measures had been certified for the 2011 ballot.
- No more measures were added to the ballot above the 34 certified by the first Tuesday in September.
The graph below shows the number of certifications in each week of 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017, as well as the average for each week. The graph also shows 2019 certifications. Ballots are finalized for 2019.
Even-numbered years
- At this point in the cycle for even-year elections from 2012 through 2018, an average of 45 measures had been certified. From 2012 through 2018, an average of 169 measures were ultimately certified to appear on the general election ballot.
2019 certifications
Ballot measures for 2019 are finalized.
September 24:
- Washington advisory votes - Twelve advisory votes were automatically referred to the ballot in Washington as required under Initiative 960. Initiative 960 passed in 2007 and requires an advisory vote to be referred to voters concerning any law passed by the legislature that creates or increases taxes or fees. I-960 triggered its first odd-year advisory question in 2013. The 12 advisory questions on the ballot this year is the largest number of advisory questions required by the state's automatic process. There were three in 2017, four in 2015, and five in 2013.
2020 certifications
From September 17 to October 16, two 2020 statewide ballot measures were certified for the ballot:
September 19:
- Florida Amendment 1, Citizen Requirement for Voting Initiative (2020) - This initiative would amend the Florida Constitution to state that “only a citizen” of the U.S. can vote in Florida. Currently, the state's constitution says that “every citizen” of the U.S. can vote in Florida. The group Florida Citizen Voters submitted 927,662 valid signatures. To qualify the measure for the ballot, 766,200 valid signatures were required. Sponsors of the measure hired Let the Voters Decide to collect the signatures. A total of $7,864,029.60 was spent to collect the 766,200 valid signatures required to put this measure before voters, resulting in a total cost per required signature (CPRS) of $10.26. Florida Citizen Voters have reported $8.3 million in contributions so far. Ballotpedia has not identified any committees registered to oppose Amendment 1.
- A similar amendment to change constitutional language to explicitly require voters to be U.S. citizens is also on the 2020 ballot in Alabama. Similar initiatives were proposed in Colorado and Maine targeting the 2020 ballot. Voters in North Dakota approved a similar initiative, Measure 2, in 2018.
October 7:
- California Proposition 13, School and College Facilities Bond (March 2020) - This measure would authorize $15 billion in general obligation bonds for school and college facilities, including $9 billion for preschool and K-12 schools, $4 billion for universities, and $2 billion for community colleges. It will be on the ballot on March 3, 2020. The original version of the bond proposal—Assembly Bill 48—included two bond measures, one for the election on March 3, 2020, and one for the election on November 8, 2022. Both of the proposed bond measures addressed school and college facilities. Legislators amended AB 48 to include just one bond measure.
- The final version of AB 48 came up for a vote in the state Senate on September 13, 2019, and in the state Assembly on September 14, 2019. The state Senate voted 35-4. The state Assembly voted 78-1. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed AB 48 on Oct. 7, which placed the bond measure on the ballot.
Readability analysis for 2019 statewide ballot measures
- See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2019
Ballotpedia uses two formulas, the Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), to compute scores for the titles and summaries of statewide ballot measures. The FKGL formula produces a score equivalent to the estimated number of years of U.S. education required to understand a text.
The average FKGL score for 2019 ballot measure titles is 15 years of formal U.S. education. Scores ranged between six and 27. The average FKGL for the ballot summaries or explanations of all the 2019 statewide ballot measures that were given a summary or explanation is also 15 years of formal U.S. education.
The average FKGL score for 2017 ballot measure titles was 20 years of formal U.S. education. The average FRE score for 2017 ballot measure titles was 21. The FKGL scores of the 27 statewide ballot measure titles ranged from 7 to 42 years of formal U.S. education.
The states with the lowest average FKGL scores for ballot titles or questions are Washington, Pennsylvania, and Maine with 9, 10, and 17, respectively. The states with the highest average FKGL scores for ballot titles or questions are Colorado, Kansas, and Texas with 27, 23, and 20. Washington state’s attorney general and initiative petitioners wrote ballot title language with the lowest average grade levels at 9 and 10, respectively. State legislators’ language was more complex, with an average ballot title grade of 20.
To read the full report on 2019 statewide ballot measure readability, click here.
See also
- 2019 ballot measures
- 2020 ballot measures
- List of ballot measures by state
- List of ballot measures by year
- Ballot initiatives filed for the 2019 ballot
- Ballot Measure Scorecard, 2019
- Ballot Measure Scorecard, 2020
- Ballotpedia's Tuesday Count for 2019
- Ballotpedia's Tuesday Count for 2020
Related articles
Footnotes
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