1945 ballot measures
This page provides a list of statewide ballot measures that appeared before voters in 1945.
In the United States, a ballot measure is a law, issue, or question that appears on a statewide or local ballot for voters of that jurisdiction to decide.
- HBM Factbooks
- List of ballot measures by state
- Other years
Historical Ballot Measure Factbooks
The inventory of statewide ballot measures is part of Ballotpedia's Historical Ballot Measure Factbooks, which document nearly 200 years of direct democracy in the United States. This ongoing research effort will provide an unparalleled resource for researchers, reporters, and voters on how ballot measures have evolved, the issues they've covered, and the role they have played in our civic life. Click here to access the state historical ballot measure factbooks.
List of ballot measures by state
Alabama
See also: Alabama 1945 ballot measures
October 2
| Type | Title | Subject | Description | Result | Yes Votes | No Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amendment 1 | Taxes | The amendment proposed to amend the constitution. The amendment proposed that the legislature levy and collect an income tax from whatever source derived within the state, including incomes from salaries, fees and compensation paid for the calendar year of 1933, and thereafter. The tax would be fixed at no more than five percent and three percent for corporations. From net income an exemption of not less than $1,500 would be allowed to unmarried persons and an exemption of not less than $3,000 would be allowed to the head of a family, provided that only one exemption would be allowed to husband and wife where they are living together and make separate returns for income tax; an exemption of not less than $300 would be allowed for each dependent under the age of 18. The funds derived from the tax would be used to create a trust fund for the payment of the principal of all outstanding warrant refunding bonds and to become part of and to supplement the sinking fund, created for the payment “Old Bonded Debt” and Funding Renewal Bonds; to replace revenues lost to the several funds by reason of exemption of homesteads from the state ad valorem tax; any residual funds would be paid into the state treasury. |  | 42,368 (36%) | 75,308 (64%) |
Georgia
See also: Georgia 1945 ballot measures
August 7
| Type | Title | Subject | Description | Result | Yes Votes | No Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amendment 1 | State constitution ratification | Adopt a revised constitution |
| 60,065 (64%) | 34,417 (36%) | |
| Amendment 10 | Property taxes; Public education funding | Authorize Fulton County to levy an educational property tax of five to fifteen mills on areas outside the City of Atlanta |
| 34,376 (65%) | 18,507 (35%) | |
| Amendment 11 | Property taxes; Public education funding | Authorize Chatham County to levy up to five additional mills in taxes for school purposes beyond the existing ten-mill Constitutional limit |
| 35,128 (66%) | 18,018 (34%) | |
| Amendment 12 | Property taxes | Authorize DeKalb County to levy and collect additional taxes in former local school districts |
| 33,996 (65%) | 18,514 (35%) | |
| Amendment 2 | Public employee retirement funds; Administrative powers and rulemaking | Authorize the Legislature to pass laws allowing Fulton County to provide pensions to the surviving widows and minor children of county and county school employees |
| 34,505 (64%) | 19,650 (36%) | |
| Amendment 3 | Public education funding; Property taxes | Provide that homestead tax exemptions in the State do not apply in Irwin County for school tax levies imposed by the County Board of Irwin |
| 33,961 (64%) | 18,982 (36%) | |
| Amendment 4 | Public employee retirement funds | Authorize the Legislature to pass laws allowing Bibb County to establish a retirement fund and system of retirement pay for its county employees |
| 33,947 (64%) | 18,697 (36%) | |
| Amendment 5 | Debt limits; Public education funding | Authorize the City of Atlanta to incur debt for school purposes |
| 35,290 (66%) | 18,187 (34%) | |
| Amendment 6 | Sewage and stormwater; Property taxes | Authorize Floyd County to levy taxes to construct and maintain a sewer and water system |
| 34,770 (66%) | 17,673 (34%) | |
| Amendment 7 | Local government finance and taxes; Business regulations; Business taxes; Fees, licenses, and charges | Authorize Fulton County Commissioners to levy license taxes, and regulate businesses and taxicabs and cars for hire in unincorporated areas of the county |
| 35,186 (66%) | 18,131 (34%) | |
| Amendment 8 | Salaries of government officials; State legislative authority; County and municipal governance | Allow the General Assembly to authorize counties in the Brunswick Judicial Circuit to pay Superior Court judges an additional $100 per month with their state salary |
| 32,824 (63%) | 19,574 (37%) | |
| Amendment 9 | Debt limits; Administrative powers and rulemaking | Authorize Fulton County government officials to incur new debts if approved by two-thirds of voters in an election where the majority of qualified voters participate |
| 34,720 (66%) | 18,242 (34%) |
Kentucky
See also: Kentucky 1945 ballot measures
November 6
| Type | Title | Subject | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Absentee Voting Referendum | Absentee and mail voting |
| |
| Highway Fund Taxes Referendum | Transportation taxes and fees; Transportation; Revenue allocation |
|
Michigan
See also: Michigan 1945 ballot measures
April 2
| Type | Title | Subject | Description | Result | Yes Votes | No Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proposal 1 | Property taxes | Increase the tax millage for certain purposes | | 115,463 (33%) | 231,742 (67%) | |
| Proposal 2 | Flood infrastructure and management | Allow the state to aid in the improvement of waterways |
| 189,313 (58%) | 138,558 (42%) |
Missouri
See also: Missouri 1945 ballot measures
February 27
| Type | Title | Subject | Description | Result | Yes Votes | No Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Constitution Ratification Measure | State constitution ratification | Ratify the state's fourth constitution, the Missouri Constitution of 1945 |
| 312,032 (63%) | 185,658 (37%) |
Montana
See also: Montana 1945 ballot measures
June 5
| Type | Title | Subject | Result | Yes Votes | No Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R-49 | State and local government budgets, spending, and finance; Transportation |
| 38,756 (82%) | 8,326 (18%) |
New York
See also: New York 1945 ballot measures
November 6
| Type | Title | Subject | Description | Result | Yes Votes | No Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amendment 1 | State executive elections | Require that the governor and lieutenant-governor be chosen jointly | | 475,912 (49%) | 485,534 (51%) | |
| Amendment 2 | State executive powers and duties | Set new rules for filling vacancies in the governor and lieutenant governor offices by requiring a prompt election, assign the senate’s temporary president to perform their duties when these offices are vacant or impaired, and allow the assembly speaker to act as governor if the temporary president cannot do so |
| 575,740 (64%) | 324,258 (36%) | |
| Amendment 3 | Election administration and governance | Remove the disqualification of votes of certain electors of a nonpersonal election district after removal within thirty days preceding an election from one election district to another in the same county |
| 458,749 (52%) | 416,474 (48%) | |
| Amendment 4 | Redistricting policy | Provide that towns with certain population ratios may be divided in creation of senate and assembly districts |
| 613,373 (70%) | 264,296 (30%) | |
| Amendment 5 | Local government organization | Permit two-thirds of the members of a county governing body to request enactment of special or local laws by the legislature without approval of county executive officer |
| 608,296 (71%) | 246,141 (29%) | |
| Amendment 6 | Civil service; Veterans policy | Give disabled veterans preference in civil service appointments and promotions and extended the same preference to non-disabled veterans until December 31,1950 |
| 621,436 (51%) | 587,217 (49%) |
Oregon
See also: Oregon 1945 ballot measures
June 22
| Type | Title | Subject | Description | Result | Yes Votes | No Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measure Nos. 300-301 | Taxes | Levy a $5 million tax annually for two years to create a state building fund. |
| 78,269 (61%) | 49,565 (39%) | |
| Measure Nos. 302-303 | Taxes; Tobacco laws; Education | Levy a one-tenth of one cent tax on every cigarette sold and allocate such revenues to the state public school assistance fund. | | 60,321 (47%) | 67,542 (53%) |
Texas
See also: Texas 1945 ballot measures
August 25
| Type | Title | Subject | Description | Result | Yes Votes | No Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amendment 3 | State judiciary | Increase number of Texas Supreme Court justices from three to nine |
| 92,114 (54%) | 79,295 (46%) | |
| Proposition 1 | Elections and campaigns; Taxes | Exempt certain members of the military from paying a poll tax at any election during times of war or national emergency |
| 143,865 (79%) | 38,679 (21%) | |
| Proposition 3 | Salaries of government officials | Provide for a continuous salary of $10 per day for legislators during their tenure | | 42,879 (25%) | 130,983 (75%) | |
| Proposition 4 | Public assistance programs | Consolidate aid provisions for the elderly, blind, and children, manage federal funds, and set a maximum for annual assistance spending |
| 96,959 (55%) | 78,052 (45%) | |
| Proposition 5 | Veterans policy | Create the Veterans' Land Board and authorize the issuance of up to $25 million in bonds to create the Veterans' Land Fund |
| 80,022 (73%) | 29,935 (27%) |
Wisconsin
See also: Wisconsin 1945 ballot measures
April 3
| Type | Title | Subject | Description | Result | Yes Votes | No Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question 1 | State judiciary | Abolish the office of the Justice of the Peace in first class cities |
| 160,965 (59%) | 113,408 (41%) | |
| Question 2 | State and local government budgets, spending, and finance; Transportation | Appropriate state funds for airports and aeronautical programs |
| 187,111 (65%) | 101,169 (35%) |
Other years
Click on a year in the following table to view that year’s state ballot measures.
See also
Footnotes
