145 Statewide Ballot Measures in 39 States Go to Voters Nov. 3, From a California Billionaire Tax to Abortion and Trans Sports Rules

With five days until the Nov. 3 midterms, the Missouri amendment we have been tracking turns out to be one of 145 statewide measures spread across 39 states, according to Ballotpedia's count. Some got on the ballot through citizen petitions. Many are legislature-referred constitutional amendments.

Taxes and state finances are the largest category. Abortion, LGBTQ+ issues and voting rules fill out most of the high-profile fights.

The California billionaire tax

California voters will decide on a novel tax on the state's billionaires. It has split Democrats, and Gov. Gavin Newsom opposes it.

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, warned in a Fox News appearance today, Oct. 29, of economic fallout from the proposal. Supporters were not quoted in the material gathered for this story.

Property tax questions appear on dozens of other state ballots.

Abortion in four states

Idaho, Nevada, Virginia and Missouri all have abortion on the ballot, the first such cluster since the 2024 election, when seven states voted for abortion-rights measures and three rejected them.

Nevada and Virginia voters can write abortion rights into their state constitutions. That would make it harder for a future legislature to restrict them. Idaho's Proposition 1 would establish a right to abortion up to fetal viability and could overturn the state's near-total ban.

Missouri runs the other direction. Voters approved a constitutional abortion right in 2024 with roughly 51.6 percent. The Republican-led legislature has put a repeal back in front of them. The question would allow abortions for rape and incest under 12 weeks, emergencies and fetal anomalies. It would also require parental consent for minors' abortions and bar gender transition procedures for minors.

Breitbart, which argues the pro-life side, says constitutional measures are an offensive weapon because they are nearly irreversible. It also says abortion-rights campaigns have often outspent pro-life groups by double or triple. NPR notes that much of the advertising for the Missouri measure mentions only the gender-care ban.

Transgender sports and care for minors

Four states have measures on girls' and women's sports: Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska and Washington.

Arizona would expand its existing law to cover private schools and impose bathroom and locker-room restrictions. Nebraska would put its ban in the state constitution. Colorado's measure covers girls' school and college sports.

Washington's measure takes a different approach. A student who wants to play on a girls' team would need a health care provider to confirm biological sex based on "the student's reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels." The measure's critics say that verification is invasive. Colorado and Missouri also have measures limiting gender-affirming care for minors.

On the other side, Vermont voters will consider an equal protection clause covering gender identity and gender expression. Virginia's marriage amendment would replace a dormant constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, unenforceable since the 2015 Supreme Court decision, with language defining marriage as between any two adults regardless of race, sex or gender.

Voting rules and district maps

California, Colorado and Nevada have measures requiring voters to provide part of a government ID when voting by mail. Arizona has a related photo-ID measure for mail ballots, though details of that measure remain unclear.

Redistricting is on the ballot too. Missouri voters will weigh in on a congressional map after court intervention. Maryland voters will decide on an amendment to help lawmakers redraw their districts. Either could shift the House balance.

Alaska voters will decide whether to keep ranked-choice voting, a system that has drawn attention because of a competitive Senate race. Montana has a measure to limit corporate spending in elections, aimed at the 2010 Citizens United ruling.

Alabama's measure would require public schools to broadcast or perform the first stanza of the national anthem each week.

What history says about passage

Voters like the idea of initiatives more than the initiatives themselves. John Matsusaka, a University of Southern California business professor and executive director of the Initiative and Referendum Institute, said polls in every state show at least 2-to-1 support for having an initiative process.

The long-run passage rate for measures is about 41%, Matsusaka's institute notes.

The Kansas and Kentucky rejections in 2022, and the 2024 losses in Florida, South Dakota and Nebraska, show how unpredictable that can be on the hot-button issues.

Polls close on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The open question in Missouri is whether voters back a single package they will cast one vote on, or split on the abortion and gender-care provisions it bundles together.