Ballot measure signature costs, 2019
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This Ballotpedia report is an in-depth look at the total signature gathering costs and the cost-per-required-signature for measures that qualified for 2019 state ballots.
In 2019, two citizen-initiated measures were certified for the ballot. Both of the measures were on the ballot in Washington.
Measuring the cost
This report uses two ways to measure the cost of an initiative or veto referendum petition drive.
- According to the total cost of gathering the required signatures to put the initiative or veto referendum on the ballot
- According to the total cost divided by the number of signatures required to qualify the measure for the ballot or Cost Per Required Signature (CPRS)
The total cost depends on all of the factors that can make a petition effort more or less expensive, including the population of the state and the state's signature requirements. This measurement does not necessarily indicate how difficult it is to run a signature petition campaign in a state relative to other states or how hard and expensive it is to collect a given valid signature. It takes into consideration the population and signature requirements for a state. For example, the average total cost of a successful initiative petition drive in California in 2016 was just over $2.9 million, while in Oklahoma the average total cost was about $870,000. Initiatives in California, however, require over four times as many signatures and affect 10 times as many people.
Cost Per Required Signature (CPRS):
The cost per required signature cuts out the variable of a state's signature requirements and shows the cost for each signature needed to qualify the measure for the ballot. This second measurement is a better indication of how difficult it is to run a signature petition campaign in a given state relative to other states. For example, the average CPRS in California in 2016 was $6.20 while the average CPRS in Oklahoma was $9.59, but the average total petition cost was $2.9 million in California and about $870,000 in Oklahoma.
From the perspective of a national organization or proponents of a national agenda, this means that a lower CPRS generally means that a campaign could potentially affect more people and achieve more political influence per dollar spent, while the total petition cost might dictate in which states the campaign could actually afford to launch a successful petition drive.
The cost of a petition campaign
Rules and regulations
- See also: Laws governing the initiative process
The cost of getting an initiative before voters varies widely by state and by initiative proposal. The requirements and restrictions imposed by state law form a major factor in the expense of an initiative signature petition effort.
Higher signature requirements are a straightforward example of a reason an initiative petition campaign might be more expensive in one state than in another. Other restrictions that can make a difference in the cost of a petition campaign include:
- Distribution requirements - It is easier and less expensive to collect a lot of signatures in one very populous area than a small number of signatures from lots of smaller, less-populated areas.
- Pay-per-signature bans - Paying signature gatherers by signature is one of the most cost-efficient ways to fund signature gathering efforts.
- Restrictions on circulators - Restricting who can collect signatures limits competition between petition companies and professional signature gatherers.
- Initiative petition circulation periods - If proponents have less time to collect signatures, the process can be more expensive.
Petition companies
The number of professional signature petition companies in the state and the way those companies operate can also make a difference in the CPRS. If more petition companies are active in a state, there will be more competition. Likewise, if more petitions are being circulated, demand could be higher in some years than in others.
Issue topic
Another factor is the topic of the proposed initiative or referendum. Some laws are more compelling to voters and easier to collect signatures for than others.
Signatures costs by state
Washington
- See also: Washington 2019 ballot measures
| Ballot Measure | Topic | Petition Companies | Cost | Signatures | CPRS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Initiative 976, Limits on Motor Vehicle Taxes and Fees Measure (2019) | Taxes | Citizen Solutions LLC | $560,000.00 | 259,622 | $2.16 |
| Washington Referendum 88, Vote on I-1000 Affirmative Action Measure (2019) | Affirmative action | National Ballot Access | $837,177.88 | 259,622 | $3.22 |
See also
Other petition cost reports
- 2012 ballot measure petition signature costs
- 2013 ballot measure petition signature costs
- 2014 ballot measure petition signature costs
- Ballot measure signature costs, 2015
- Ballot measure signature costs, 2016
- Ballot measure signature costs, 2017
- Ballot measure signature costs, 2018
- Ballot measures cost per required signatures analysis
- Ballot measure signature costs, 2020
- Ballot measure signature costs, 2021
- Ballot measure signature costs, 2022
- Ballot measure signature costs, 2023
- Ballot measure signature costs, 2024
- User:Jackie Mitchell/CPRS 2024
- User:Alexis Thacker/sandbox3
- Ballot measure signature costs, 2025
Footnotes
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