As of August 4, 149 statewide measures have been certified for the ballot in 39 states, 14 more measures than the average number certified at this point in other even-numbered years over the past decade (2014 to 2024).
Over the past two weeks:
- One new measure was certified for the ballot in Maryland: the Provide That Nothing in State Constitution Establishes Criteria for Congressional Redistricting Amendment .
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Signatures have been submitted and are pending verification for
19
citizen-initiated measures in six states:
- Arizona Proposition 212, Restrict Empowerment Scholarship Account Funds and Require State Board of Education Oversight Initiative
- Arkansas Fundamental Right to Initiative and Referendum and Citizen-Initiated Measures Process Amendment
- Colorado Cap Individual and Corporate Income Tax at 4.4% Initiative
- Colorado Establish a Graduated Income Tax Amendment
- Colorado Require Congressional Maps to be Approved by Both a Nonpolitical Commission and the Colorado Supreme Court Amendment
- Colorado Require Plain Language and Eighth-Grade Reading Level for Ballot Measures Initiative
- Colorado Require Voter Identification Number for Mail-In Ballots Initiative
- Colorado Right to Hunt and Fish Initiative
- Colorado Right to Purchase and Sell Natural Gas for Cooking or Heating in Homes and Businesses Amendment
- Colorado Sporting Goods Sales Tax for Environmental Funding Initiative
- Michigan Citizenship Verification and Voter Identification Initiative
- Michigan Utility and Government Contractor Campaign Finance Regulations Initiative
- Montana CI-132, Require Nonpartisan Judicial Elections Initiative
- Montana CI-133, Add Right to Initiative and Referendum Power to Declaration of Rights Amendment
- Montana Initiative 194, Exclude Political Spending from Artificial Persons’ Charter Powers Initiative
- Nebraska Online Sports Betting Amendment
- Nebraska Regulate Online Sports Betting Initiative
- Nebraska Require a Four-Fifths Vote for Legislative Ballot Initiative Changes Amendment
- Nebraska Sex Requirement for School and College Sports Amendment
- One ballot measure was removed from the ballot. In Arizona, the Maricopa County Superior Court ruled that Arizona Proposition 143 violated the state's separate-amendment requirement because the proposal combined restrictions on school-employee unions with a statewide ban on public-sector union agreements. Kim Quintero, a spokeswoman for Arizona Senate Republicans, said defendants would not appeal the ruling; therefore, Proposition 143 was removed from the ballot. The court also ruled against Arizona Proposition 145 as violating the separate-amendment requirement. However, legislative leaders appealed that ruling.
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In Missouri, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins (R) announced on the signature-verification deadline on Aug. 4 that two citizen-initiated measures would not appear on the ballot. Hoskins did not release the number of signatures verified, saying, “Whether they had one signature or 500 million signatures doesn’t really matter because they are unconstitutional.”
- He said the Missouri Congressional Map Referendum could not appear on the ballot. He argued that the Missouri Constitution does not authorize referendums on congressional redistricting plans and that the U.S. Constitution gives state legislatures authority over congressional elections.
- He said the Missouri Initiative and Referendum Powers and Legislative Change Requirements Amendment could not appear on the ballot. He argued that the proposal violated the state constitution's single-subject rule .
- Both campaigns disagreed with the secretary's conclusions and said they would take legal action to challenge the secretary's decision.
- In Oregon, signatures were submitted for the Criminalize Hunting, Fishing, and Intentional Injury to Animals Initiative on May 20, 2026. On July 24, the secretary of state announced that the initiative had failed to qualify for the ballot after 104,262 signatures were verified—12,911 fewer than the 117,173 required.
The most recent signature deadline for ballot initiatives was August 3, 2026, in Colorado. At the deadline, signatures were filed for one more ballot initiative, which would establish a graduated income tax in the state. The next relevant deadline is August 25 in Oklahoma, when election officials must complete signature verification; Oklahoma does not have a fixed deadline for submitting initiative signatures.
By this point in even-numbered years from 2014 through 2024, an average of 135 statewide measures had been certified for the ballot. During this period, the average total number of statewide ballot measures certified in an even-numbered year was 153.
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