Washington 2026 ballot measures
As of September 29, 2025, zero statewide ballot measures were certified to appear on the Washington ballot on November 3, 2026.
Potential measures
Initiative to the Legislature
- See also: Initiatives to the Legislature
| Type | Number | Title | Subject | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IndISS | IL26-114 | Parental Financial Liability for Dependent's Medical Care Initiative | Insurance policy and Healthcare governance | Provide that parents or legal guardians are not financially liable for a dependent's medical care, including mental health care, without first consenting to treatment |
| IndISS | IL26-126 | Require Proof of Citizenship for Voter Registration Initiative | Voter registration | Require voters to present proof of citizenship to vote and cancel voter registration for those currently registered that do not provide proof of citizenship |
| IndISS | IL26-134 | Establish Parental Notification Right for Dependent's Medical Treatment and Repeal Student's Rights Initiative | Public education governance | Repeal House Bill 1296 (2025), which eliminated the rights of parents to receive prior notification when medical services are offered to their child except for emergency medical treatment and adopted certain student rights |
| IndISS | IL26-282 | Require Health Insurance Companies Cover Medically Necessary Services Initiative | Private health insurance | Require health insurance companies to cover all medically necessary services and medications before challenging their necessity |
| IndISS | IL26-349 | Reduce Cannabis Excise Tax Initiative | Sales taxes | Reduce the state cannabis excise tax from 37% to 7% |
| IndISS | IL26-499 | Parental Right to Review Education Materials, Receive Notifications, and Opt Out of Sexual-Health Education Initiative | Public education | Re-enact Initiative to the Legislature 2081 (2024), related to parental rights to review educational materials, receive specific notifications, and opt their children out of sexual health education |
| IndISS | IL26-638 | Biological Sex Requirements for School Sports Initiative | Sex and gender issues and Athletics and sports | Require school and voluntary nonprofit athletics to prohibit biologically male students from competing with and against biologically female students |
| IndISS | IL26-650 | Payment Program for Educational Expenses for Non-Public Students Initiative | School choice policy | Establish public payments for students in non-public education, providing for taxpayers to donate $300,000,000 annually towards the program instead of paying taxes |
| IndISS | IL26-875 | Parental Inspection of Public Student Medical Records and Notification of Expenses Initiative | Public education governance | Allow for public-school parents to inspect their child’s medical records and receive notifications relating to their child’s medical treatment, and provide that parents are not liable for their child’s healthcare expenses without prior consent |
| IndISS | IL26-880 | Require Payments to Non-Public School Students Initiative | School choice policy | Require 100,000 payments annually of $12,000 to families of home-schooled and private-school students, paid for with funds currently restricted to public schools, early learning, and higher education |
| IndISS | IL26-903 | Require Property Taxes Be Levied On 50% Of Its Value Initiative | Property taxes | Calculate property taxes based on 50% of the properties true and fair value |
| IndISS | IL26-910 | Reduce the Maximum Annual Property Tax Increase to 0.5 Percent Initiative | Property taxes | Reduce the maximum percentage by which certain property taxes could increase annually from 1% to 0.5% |
| IndISS | IL26-677 | Make Judicial Officers Mandated Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect Allegations Initiative | State judiciary oversight | Require that judges and judicial officers report any credible allegations of child abuse or neglect |
Getting measures on the ballot
Citizens of Washington may initiate legislation as either a direct state statute— called Initiative to the People (ITP) in Washington— or indirect state statute— called Initiative to the Legislature (ITL) in Washington. In Washington, citizens also have the power to repeal legislation via veto referendum. Citizens may not initiate constitutional amendments. The Washington State Legislature, however, may place legislatively referred constitutional amendments on the ballot with a two-thirds (66.67%) vote in each chamber. The Washington Legislature may refer measures to the 2026 ballot during the 2025 and 2026 state legislative sessions.
ITL: The last day to submit signatures for Initiatives to the 2026 Legislature is January 2, 2026, by 5:00 p.m. local time. To qualify an ITL for the 2026 ballot, 308,911 valid signatures are required.[1]
ITP: Initiatives to the People can be filed beginning in January 2026 with a signature deadline of early July. The number of signatures required was set to be 308,911.[1]
VR: For veto referendums, signatures must be filed with the secretary of state within 90 days after the adjournment of the legislative session at which the targeted legislation was passed. Signatures to qualify a veto referendum were set to be 154,455.[1]
Historical facts
- See also: List of Washington ballot measures
Washington statewide ballot measures
In Washington, a total of 510 ballot measures appeared on statewide ballots between 1889 and 2024. A total of 268 ballot measures were approved, and 242 ballot measures were defeated.
| Washington statewide ballot measures, 1889-2024 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number | Annual average | Annual minimum | Annual maximum | Approved | Defeated | ||
| # | % | # | % | ||||
Ballot initiative certification rates
The following table shows the rate of certification for ballot initiatives in Washington between 2010 and 2024:
Washington Historical Ballot Measures Factbook
Ballotpedia completed an inventory of Washington ballot measures as part of Ballotpedia's Historical Ballot Measure Factbook, which will document nearly 200 years of direct democracy in the United States. To view a searchable database and analysis of Washington ballot measures, click here.
Washington ballot measures by the decade
The average number of measures per decade was 34, and the average number of measures approved per decade was 46.14%. The decade with the most ballot measures was the 2010s, which featured 73 ballot measures. Thirty-eight measures (52.05%) were approved, and 35 (47.95%) were defeated. The decade that had the highest approval rate was the 1960s, which featured 51 measures—38 (74.51%) were approved, and 13 (25.49%) were defeated. The decade with the lowest approval rating was the 2020s. The decade featured 15 ballot measures—two (13.33%) were approved and 13 (86.67%) were defeated.
See also
- 2026 ballot measures
- List of Washington ballot measures
- Laws governing the initiative process in Washington
- History of Initiative & Referendum in Washington
External links
Footnotes
