While the focus in the run-up to the midterm elections has been on control of the U.S. Senate and House, voters in 38 states and the District of Columbia will also cast their votes on nearly 140 ballot measures, on issues ranging from marijuana to abortion to collective bargaining.
As of October 15, more than $782 million had been spent nationwide on ballot access campaigns this year — more than half of it on two gambling measures in California.
A few highlights:
- Arkansas, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota voters will all consider marijuana legalization questions.
- California, Michigan, and Vermont voters will be asked to add protection of legal abortion to their state constitutions, while Kentucky voters will decide whether to have their constitution declare that there is no state right to abortion.
- Nevadans will decide if they want to become the third state (after Maine and Alaska) to use ranked-choice voting in federal elections.
- Voters in Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont will decide whether to repeal constitutional language allowing for enslavement or servitude as criminal punishment.
In the past, only about four in 10 eligible voters turned out during midterm elections, and while turnout was stronger in 2018, nearly half of eligible voters still stayed home. Get out and vote!
