State of Election Administration Legislation 2025 Spring Report: Topics of note, Ballot access and changes to ballot initiatives
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March 20, 2025
By Ballotpedia staff
Ballot access and changes to ballot initiatives
Candidate ballot access
There are 285 bills related to ballot access for candidates in 45 states. These bills deal with topics like filing deadlines and fees, signature gathering methods, thresholds to reach the ballot, and more. Notable legislative updates include:
- Bipartisan bills in at least two states that have advanced would require candidates for judicial positions to file affidavits attesting to their qualifications. In Georgia, HB 180, which has passed the lower chamber of the legislature, would apply the affidavit requirement to candidates for judge of a probate court. In Utah, SB 290 would require candidates for the offices of county or district attorney, or attorney general, to attest to their qualifications, including that they are an attorney in good standing. The bill passed the legislature and awaits action from Gov. Spencer Cox (R).
- In Alabama, Democratic-sponsored SB 165 would set an earlier deadline for independent and municipal candidates to file a statement of economic interests with the state ethics commission. The bill passed the state’s Senate in a voice vote on March 4.
- In Arizona, two bills, SB 1041 and HB 2390, would establish a method for candidates for board of education and justices of the peace to gather nominating petition signatures electronically. The bill in the senate passed with just one “Nay” vote, while the bill in the lower chamber passed unanimously. Read more about Arizona’s legislative session below.
- In New Jersey, a new law increases the number of signatures required to be placed on the ballot for various offices. Read more about that bill below.
- In Virginia, SB 940, which has passed both chambers of the assembly and awaits action from Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), would establish new rules for challenges to a candidate’s eligibility. The bill stipulates that challenges must be filed in a circuit court and served at least 90 days before a general election or 65 days before a primary. The bill passed with just two “Nay” votes across both chambers. Read more about Virginia’s legislative session below.
- In Utah, SB 164, which passed the legislature unanimously, adds requirements for election officials related to candidate petitions, including verifying petition signatures, and establishing a protocol for submitting and maintaining a chain-of-custody for signature packets. Read more about Utah’s legislative session below.
Ballot access for initiatives
Thirty-one states are considering legislation that would change how initiatives and measures reach the ballot. The majority of such bills — 91 of 130 — are from states with Republican trifectas. Several states have made or are considering changes to petition circulator policies, signature thresholds, and other aspect of the ballot measure process:
- In Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) has signed nine bills into law that affect ballot access for initiatives, including new affidavit requirements for canvassers and requiring petition signers to present identification. Read more about these bills below.
- Florida’s SB 7016 proposes a constitutional amendment that would change several aspects of ballot access for initiatives, including stipulating that signatures gathered for an initiative are only valid for three consecutive election cycles and that failure to certify a measure within this timeframe results in the disbanding of the sponsor political committee. The amendment would also require sponsors of initiatives to submit a financial impact statement to the secretary of state, and adds rules related to canvassers, including requiring canvassers to sign an affidavit attesting to the legitimacy of each signature collected, and prohibiting the payment of canvassers based on the number of signatures gathered. On March 10, the legislation received a favorable 6-3 vote with Republicans in support in the state’s Ethics and Elections Committee.
- In Missouri, HB 575 would add new requirements for petition circulators, including that they are U.S. citizens and residents of Missouri. It also provides for a new process to challenge elements of a ballot measure, including restricting certain challenges close to Election Day. The lower chamber’s Rules Committee advanced the bill on March 5. Nine other bills related to ballot access for initiatives are active in Missouri.
- Two bills awaiting action from South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden (R) would make changes to the ballot initiative process:
- HB 1169 would add a requirement that, to qualify for the ballot, initiative petitions must receive signatures from 5% of the electors in each state senate district at the time of the last gubernatorial election. Currently, state law only requires signatures from 5% of all qualified electors.
- HB 1184 would require ballot measure sponsors to submit signatures nine months, instead of six, before Election Day.
- Both bills passed with three Republicans in the House and 13 in the Senate joining all Democrats in opposition.
- On March 16, the South Dakota Attorney General released the final explanation of a citizen-initiated ballot measure that would require voter approval of any legislative changes to the ballot measure referral process. The measure needs just over 35,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot in 2026.
- In Utah HB 481 which passed the legislature unanimously, would require the lieutenant governor to publish the full text of a proposed constitutional amendment for 60 days before the election in a manner provided for elsewhere in statute. The bill is contingent on the results of a 2026 ballot measure — created by HJR 10 which the legislature also adopted unanimously — that, if approved, would grant lawmakers the ability to define the publication requirements.
- In Washington, Democratic-sponsored SB 5382 would require petition circulators to sign a declaration for each signature collected and add a step for election officials to match the address of petition signers to voter registration data. Addresses that do not substantially match would be considered invalid. The bill received a hearing in the Ways & Means Committee of the state senate on February 24.
Ballot measure thresholds
Bills in at least six states — including four states with a Republican trifecta — would increase the threshold required to approve at least some ballot measures and initiatives:
- In Arizona, HCR 2025 would create a ballot measure that proposes establishing a 60% threshold, instead of a majority, to approve initiatives. The amendment would create an exception for an initiative that repeals an existing provision of the state constitution, which would require a simple majority. The Republican-sponsored bill passed the lower chamber of the legislature on March 11.
- Missouri’s SJR 11 proposed an amendment to the state constitution that would require initiative proposals to receive 35 percent of the total number of ballots cast at an election, in addition to receiving a simple majority of ballots that cast a vote on the initiative at the election, in order to pass. The senate’s Local Government and Elections Committee held a hearing on the Republican-sponsored bill on March 3.
- In Hawaii, SB 1225, which passed the Hawaii Senate on March 10, would remove a requirement that ballot measures receive support from at least 50% of the number of registered voters at the time of a regular election, or 30% at a special election — in addition to a majority of votes at that election — for approval. If approved, the bill would only require a majority of votes for approval. The bill was scheduled for a hearing in the lower chamber’s Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee on March 12.
- In Idaho, HB 2 would replace a majority requirement with 60% approval threshold for ballot initiatives. Another bill in Idaho, HB 85, would allow the governor to veto an initiative that is approved by a majority but less than two-thirds of voters. Both bills are in committee.
- In North Dakota, HCR 3003 proposes an amendment to raise the threshold to pass a constitutional amendment to 60% instead of a majority. The bill passed the legislature’s lower chamber 65-29 on January 29, when all Democrats and a group of Republicans voted against the bill.
- In Utah, lawmakers certified SJR 2 which will appear on the ballot in 2026. If approved, the measure would require 60% voter approval for certain tax-related changes, including imposing a new tax, or adjusting a property tax rate in a way that reduces the rate less than it would decrease under current law. The Republican-sponsored resolution passed the legislature mostly along party lines.
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About the authors
Joe Greaney is a staff writer on Ballotpedia's Marquee Team.
Ballotpedia Editor in Chief Geoff Pallay reviewed the report and provided feedback, as did Managing Editor Cory Eucalitto.
See also
- Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
- About Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
- Voting laws in the United States
- Election Policy
