Voters decide dozens of ballot measures that affect life, death, taxes and more

While electing officials to make and enforce the laws, voters in dozens of states also decide on more than 140 ballot propositions that affect how people live, work and die legally.

While 10 states are considering measures related to abortion or reproductive rights on Tuesday’s ballots, about a half-dozen states are weighing legalizing marijuana for recreational or medical use. About two dozen measures focus on upcoming elections, including several that specifically bar non-citizens from voting. Other state measures affect wages, taxes, housing and education.

Many of the ballot measures were initiated by citizen petitions that circumvent state laws, though others were placed before voters by lawmakers.

Legalization of marijuana

Voters in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota are deciding whether to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. The election marks the third vote on the issue in both North and South Dakota. In Nebraska, voters are considering a pair of measures that would legalize medical marijuana and regulate the industry.

About half of the states currently allow recreational marijuana, and about a dozen more allow medical marijuana.

In Massachusetts, a ballot measure would legalize the possession and supervised use of natural psychedelics, including psilocybin mushrooms. It would be the third state to do so, following Oregon and Colorado.

Immigration

An Arizona measure, drafted amid a surge in immigration, would make it a state crime to enter a foreign country except through official ports of entry, and for someone already in the U.S. illegally to apply for public benefits using documents false.

The border crossing measure is similar to a challenged Texas law that the US Justice Department says violates federal authority.

School choice

A proposed amendment to the Kentucky Constitution would allow lawmakers to use state funds for private schools. A Colorado measure would create a constitutional right to school choice for K-12 students.

In Nebraska, voters are deciding whether to repeal a new state law that funds private school tuition with state dollars.

Most states offer some kind of state-supported program to help defray the costs of private school.

Sports betting

Missouri voters decide whether to become the latest to legalize sports betting. A total of 38 states and Washington, DC already allow sports betting, which has expanded rapidly since the US Supreme Court cleared the way in 2018.

tax

A proposal in Colorado would make it the second state after California to impose a sales tax on firearms and ammunition, with the proceeds going primarily to crime victim services. The federal government already taxes gun and ammunition sales.

North Dakota voters are considering a measure to eliminate property taxes. If approved, local governments could need more than $3 billion annually in replacement revenue from the state.

A measure in South Dakota would repeal the state’s sales tax on food, a move already taken in most other states.

An Oregon measure would raise the minimum tax on large corporations to finance a tax cut for residents.

Housing

California voters are deciding whether to repeal a 1995 law that limits local rent control ordinances. If approved, it would pave the way for local governments to expand caps on the rates landlords could charge.

A unique proposal in Arizona links property taxes to responses to homelessness. It would allow property owners to seek property tax refunds if they incur expenses because a local government has refused to enforce ordinances against illegal camping, loitering, panhandling, public consumption of alcohol and drugs and other things.

Climate

Voters in Washington state are considering whether to repeal a 2021 law that limits carbon emissions and creates a market for companies that exceed the mark to buy allowances from others. Washington was the second state to launch such a program, after California.

The vote of the citizen

Republican-led legislatures in eight states — Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin — have proposed state constitutional amendments declaring that only citizens can vote.

A 1996 US law bars non-citizens from voting in federal elections, and many states already have similar laws. But Republicans have emphasized the potential of noncitizen voting after an influx of immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Although non-citizen voting has historically been rare, reviews of voter rolls prior to elections flagged potential non-citizens registered in several states.

Some municipalities in California, Maryland, Vermont, and Washington, DC allow non-citizens to vote in certain local elections.

Voting methods

Connecticut voters are considering whether to authorize absentee voting without an excuse, joining most states that already allow it.

The measures in Montana and South Dakota would create open primaries in which candidates of all parties appear on the same ballot, with a certain number advancing to the general election. Measures in Colorado, Idaho and Nevada also propose open primaries with candidates from all parties, with a certain number advancing to the general election using electoral voting. An Oregon measure would require ranked-choice voting in both primaries and general elections.

Ranked-choice voting is currently used in Alaska and Maine. But Alaska voters are considering whether to repeal provisions of a 2020 initiative that established open primaries and ranked-choice general elections.

Arizona voters are deciding between competing ballot proposals that would require either open primaries with candidates from all parties or the state’s current method of partisan primaries. If both conflicting measures pass, the provision that gets the most votes goes into effect, but that could be up to the court.

Redistribution

An initiative in Ohio would create a citizens commission to handle redistricting for U.S. House and state legislative seats, taking the task to elected officials.

The minimum wage

Ballot measures in Missouri and Alaska would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour while also requiring paid sick leave. A California measure would gradually raise the minimum wage for all employers to $18 an hour.

A measure in Nebraska would require many employers to provide sick leave but would not change wages.

A Massachusetts measure would gradually raise the minimum wage for tipped employees until it matches the rate for other employees. Instead, an Arizona measure would allow tipped workers to be paid 25 percent less than the minimum wage, as long as the tips push their total pay above the minimum wage threshold.

Assisted suicide

Voters in West Virginia are deciding whether to amend the state constitution to ban medically assisted suicide. The measure would run counter to the 10 states and Washington, DC, where physician-assisted suicide is allowed.