State Ballot Measure Monthly: October 2020
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By Ballot Measures Project staff
Since 2020 ballots are finalized, this edition of the State Ballot Measure Monthly covers notable 2020 topics and unique measures and highlights some of Ballotpedia's analysis of 2020 statewide ballot measures, including campaign finance analysis and ballot language readability.
Notable 2020 topics and measures
- Elections policy: Eighteen measures in 14 states concern election policy, including campaign finance, election dates, election systems, redistricting, suffrage, and term limits.
- These measures include two ranked-choice voting measures in Alaska and Massachusetts and a top-two open primaries measure in Florida.
- Voters in Alabama, Colorado, and Florida will decide constitutional amendments that would state that only a citizen of the U.S. who is 18 years of age or older can vote. Current language in these states says that every citizen of the U.S. who is 18 years of age or older can vote.
- Taxes: Voters in 12 states will vote on 19 ballot measures addressing taxes.
- Ten of the measures address taxes on properties,
- three are related to income tax rates; and
- two address tobacco taxes.
- Marijuana: Four states will vote on recreational marijuana legalization initiatives, and two states will vote on medical marijuana initiatives.
- Highlighted notable or unique individual measures:
- gig economy policies make their first appearance on a statewide ballot.,
- unique psilocybin mushroom use and drug-crime policy measures,
- wolf reintroduction,
- a veto referendum on cash bail,
- affirmative action, and
- state flag and state name change measures.
Click here to read more about these notable trends and measures.
Campaign finance
- See also: Ballot measure campaign finance, 2020
Committees registered to support or oppose these statewide measures reported a combined total of $1.24 billion in contributions and $1.22 billion in expenditures.
Contributions by state
The following five states had the most ballot measure campaign contributions:
- California - $763.5 million in contributions
- Illinois - $123.5 million in contributions
- Massachusetts - $61.6 million in contributions
- Colorado - $60.5 million in contributions
- Arizona - $38.3 million in contributions
Top 10 most expensive measures
The 10 measures in 2020 with the most contributions to supporting and opposing committees represent 72% of all contributions for the year's 129 statewide measures.
The most expensive measure of the year—California Proposition 22, the App-Based Drivers as Contractors and Labor Policies Initiative—was the most expensive measure for which there is data in California's Cal-Access records covering from 1999 to the present.
Seven of this year's ten most expensive measures were put on the ballot through citizen signature petition drives. State legislatures referred the other three measures to the ballot. Seven of the measures were in California, one was in Arizona, one was in Illinois, and one was in Massachusetts.
All of the top 10 most expensive measures were measures on the November ballot rather than any measures voted on earlier in the year.
Click [show] to expand the chart below showing details for the top 10 most expensive measures of 2020.
Contributions by measure type
Of the total contributions supporting or opposing the 77 statewide measures, the 28 citizen-initiated measures accounted for about 78% of contributions.
In 2018, the 68 citizen-initiated measures accounted for 83% of the $1.19 billion in campaign contributions for the 167 statewide measures.
Types of measures and historical context
Of the 70 measures on the Nov. 3 ballot, 26 were citizen-initiated measures, and state legislatures referred 40 measures to the ballot. One measure was automatically referred to the ballot in Iowa.
Of the 26 citizen-initiated measures, 26 were ballot initiatives—which propose new laws—and three were veto referendums—which challenge laws recently passed by state legislatures.
The chart below breaks out the 2020 statewide ballot measures—including the eight measures voted on earlier in the year—by type and compares these numbers to data from previous even-numbered years.
| Type | 2020 | 2018 | 2016 | 2014 | 2012 | 2010 | Average (2010-2020) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initiated ballot measures | 43 | 68 | 76 | 40 | 61 | 50 | |
| Initiated constitutional amendments[1] | 15 | 26 | 25 | 8 | 19 | 17 | |
| Initiated state statutes | 25 | 37 | 46 | 27 | 29 | 29 | |
| Veto referendums | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 4 | |
| Referred ballot measures | 86 | 99 | 86 | 118 | 125 | 134 | |
| Legislative constitutional amendment | 69 | 66 | 69 | 91 | 98 | 106 | |
| Legislative state statute | 6 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 8 | |
| Commission-referred measure | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Automatically referred measure | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Bond issues | 6 | 14 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 15 | |
| Advisory question | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | |
| Total: | 129 | 167 | 162 | 158 | 186 | 184 |
The 128 statewide measures in 2020 was the lowest number of statewide measures since at least 1980. The recent high point was in 1998, with 272 measures. This year's total is 26% lower than the average of 172 statewide measures in even-numbered years from 2010 through 2018.
The 43 citizen-initiated measures on the ballot is also low compared to recent years. The number of this year's citizen initiatives is higher than in 2014 when there were 40 citizen-initiated measures. It is 27% lower than the average of 59 from 2010 through 2018. It is 43% lower than the 76 citizen-initiated measures in 2016.
Ballot language readability
- See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2020
Ballotpedia provides an annual analysis of the readability scores of the language voters see on the ballot when deciding their 2020 statewide measures.
The average Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level—corresponding to years of U.S. formal education—for the ballot titles or ballot questions of all 128 statewide 2020 ballot measures is 17 (first-year graduate school reading level). The average ballot title grade for all measures in a single state averaged together ranged from 10 in Rhode Island, Washington, and Wyoming to 32 in Virginia.
In 2018, the average Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level for the ballot titles of statewide ballot measures was between 19 and 20, and average state scores ranged from eight to 42.
Measurements used in calculating readability scores include the number of syllables, words, and sentences in a text. Other factors, such as the complexity of an idea in a text, are not reflected in readability scores. Ballotpedia uses two formulas, the Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), to compute scores for the titles and summaries of ballot measures.
Click here to see the full report on 2020 ballot language readability.
See also
- 2020 ballot measures
- List of ballot measures by state
- List of ballot measures by year
- Ballot Measure Scorecard, 2020
- Ballotpedia's Tuesday Count for 2020
Related articles
Footnotes
- ↑ This includes combined initiated constitutional amendment and state statutes.
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