Ballot measures related to abortion, marijuana, and slavery are among a diverse array of issues that voters in 37 states will decide at the polls this fall.
Taxes, infrastructure bonds, crime, minimum wage, elections, and the structure of state governments are also among common themes on Nov. 8 ballots nationwide.
An expected flurry of measures related to sports betting and ranked voting failed to qualify for the midterm elections, and there are relatively few related to firearms and Medicaid expansion, which have been common ballot issues over the past decade.
Five abortion-related measures, five that seek to legalize recreational marijuana, and four formally banning slavery as punishment are among 129 proposed constitutional amendments to be decided.
Voters in four states have already cast ballots on five proposals in 2022, with Louisianans to see three in a Dec. 10 special election.
Of the 37 states with proposals on Nov. 8 ballots, voters in 14 will see at least four.
Alabamas and Colorados ballots both have 11 proposals, while 10 will go before Arizonans. Eight proposals are on tap in Louisianawith the three extra being set for Decemberand seven are certified for the polls in California.
Iowans will see a Right to Keep and Bear Arms Amendment, Californians will decide on a proposed flavored tobacco products ban, Alabamans will see a Broadband Internet Infrastructure Funding Amendment, and Nevadans will decide on a request to become the third state to adopt a total Top-Five Ranked Choice Voting system.
South Dakotans will see a proposed Medicaid expansion initiative, Oregon voters will see a Right to Healthcare Amendment, and Massachusetts residents will be asked if they want to remove proof of citizenship or immigration status when applying for a drivers license.
Heres a roundup of 11 prominent Nov. 8 ballot measure themes:
On Nov. 8, abortion will be on the ballot in five states, with California, Vermont, and Michigan voters seeing proposals to enshrine abortion access and those in Montana and Kentucky seeing proposals to curb it.Kansans rejected a proposal on Aug. 2 to remove abortion access from their state constitution.
The Michigan and Kentucky measures will be the most-watched.
The proposed Michigan Right to Reproductive Freedom measure would create a state constitutional right to make and effectuate decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy, including but not limited to contraception, sterilization, [and] abortion care.
Kentuckys Yes for Life Amendment 2 asks voters to vote yes or no to a proposed amendment that states, To protect human life, nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion.
If voters in five statesArkansas, Maryland, Missouri,North Dakota, and South Dakotalegalize adult recreational use of marijuana on Nov. 8, it will be legal in nearly half of the 50 states.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, adult use of marijuana is currently legal in 19 states, while 37 states have legal medical marijuana programs.
New Hampshire became the 19th state to legalize recreational marijuana when lawmakers adopted a 2022 measure allowing cannabis use by those aged 21 and older.
Legalization ballot measures are planned for Mississippi in 2023, and two such measures are collecting signatures for Wyomings 2024 ballot.
Earlier this year, as many as 15 legalization proposals across nine states were vying for the ballot, including as many as five in Arkansas.
In Colorado, where voters approved recreational marijuana in 2012, theyll now vote on Proposition 122, the Decriminalization and Regulated Access Program for Certain Psychedelic Plants and Fungi Initiative.
Slavery may be banned under the U.S. Constitution but apparently not in some state constitutions.
To clear that up, voters in Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont will be asked to remove involuntary servitude (Louisiana) and slavery (Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont) as punishment for a crime in theirconstitutions.
Alabamas Amendment 1 and Ohios Issue 1 both propose tightening bail requirements. Missouris Amendment 4 would allow the state Legislature to require that cities increase police funding without state reimbursement.
Among varied proposals, three Louisiana and two Georgia measures seek property tax exemptions for the elderly, disabled, and veterans, for timber equipment, and in disaster areas.
Idaho voters will see proposed income and corporate tax changes, and in Colorado, two proposed income tax reductions are on the ballot, including Proposition 121: the State Income Tax Rate Reduction Initiative.
Californias Proposition 30 would impose a tax on income of more than $2 million for a Zero-Emissions Vehicles and Wildfire Prevention Initiative, while Massachusettss Question 1 asks voters to approve a tax on income of more than $1 million for education and transportation improvements.
Arizonas Proposition 132 seeks to require a 60 percent supermajority to approve any ballot measure that increases taxes.
Nebraska and Nevada voters will see proposed constitutional amendments addressing minimum wages.
Nebraska Initiative 433 would increase the states current $9 per hour minimum wage to $15 per hour by Jan. 1, 2026. Nevadas Question 2 would increase the states current $9.50 per hour minimum wage to$12 per hour by July 1, 2024.
In Illinois, voters will see Amendment 1, a Right to Collective Bargaining Measure, while for voters in Tennessee, a Right-to-Work Amendment is on the ballot.
Seven measures across six states address elections and campaign funding.
Michigans Proposal 2, the Right to Voting Policies Amendment, would reduce the requirements for legal voting, and Connecticuts proposed Allow for Early Voting Amendment would allow for early voting in the state, if approved.
There are three election integrity measures on tap: Arizonas Proposition 309, the Voter Identification Requirements for Mail-In Ballots and In-Person Voting Measure; Nebraskas Initiative 432, the Photo Voter Identification Initiative; andOhios Issue 2, aCitizenship Voting Requirement Amendment.
Voters in three states will see four proposals seeking to impose restrictions on the citizen initiative process.
Arkansass Issue 2 would require a 60 percent supermajority to adopt ballot measures, Colorados Proposition GG would require that income tax effects be included in initiative analyses, and Arizonas propositions 128 and 129 would tighten language and title requirements.
Voters in three states will be asked if they want to appoint delegates to a convention to revise and amend their states constitution.
Theyre among 14 states in which the states constitution mandates the measure be presented to voters at stipulated intervals. In Alaska and New Hampshire, the Constitutional Convention Question must be asked every 10 years; in Missouri, it must be asked every 20 years.
Arizona voters will decide if they want to create a lieutenant governor office. In Arkansas and Idaho, proposals would allow the state legislature to call special sessions without the governors assent.
Michigan and North Dakota voters will be asked if they want to impose term limits on state lawmakers and, in North Dakota, the governor. A measure tightening residency requirements for state legislators is on the Maryland ballot.
According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), 33 states have legalized sports betting since the U.S. Supreme Court gave states the authority to regulate such wagering in 2018.
With the boom in online and mobile betting, sports gaming revenue topped $4.3 billion in 2021, the AGA reported. Goldman Sachs projects that the market will top $40 billion per year in the United States by 2033.
California voters will see two proposed constitutional amendments seeking to legalize sports wagering, with tax revenues from betting being put toward addressing homelessness and mental illness.
The Tribal Sports Wagering Act is sponsored by a 40-tribe coalition that spent about $25 million promoting the policy, and the California Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Support Act is backed by seven sportsbooks, including FanDuel and DraftKings, which staked the campaign $100 million.
Gaming in Californian tribal casinos has been legal for more than 20 years, while gambling at horse tracks has been legal since the 1930s. But online and mobile sports bettingan estimated $3 billion annual marketis illegal in California.
Florida voters wont see a measure related to gaming or sports wagering on their ballot, at least not in 2024, until numerous lawsuits are resolved.
Florida lawmakers legalized sports betting when they approved a 30-year gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida in May 2021.
In exchange for at least $500 million per year, the pact gives the Seminoles Hard Rock Digital platform exclusive control of blackjack, craps, fantasy, and sports betting at its seven casinos and on nontribal parimutuels.
The Seminoles launched the site in late 2021, but it has been offline for most of 2022 because of lawsuits.
Several prospective constitutional amendments related to gaming vied for Floridas 2022 ballot, including one asking voters to approve non-Seminole casinos and one sponsored by a committee supported by DraftKings and FanDuel to legalize sports gaming beyond Seminole casinos.
Follow
John Haughey has been a working journalist since 1978 with an extensive background in local government, state legislatures, and growth and development. A graduate of the University of Wyoming, he is a Navy veteran who fought fires at sea during three deployments aboard USS Constellation. Hes been a reporter for daily newspapers in California, Washington, Wyoming, New York, and Florida; a staff writer for Manhattan-based business trade publications.
Read more here:
Abortion, Marijuana, Slavery: 11 Themes to 2022 Ballot Measures - The Epoch Times
- Why are Jamaicans forced to live in poverty? - Jamaica Gleaner - October 29th, 2023 [October 29th, 2023]
- The ultimate price - The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting - October 29th, 2023 [October 29th, 2023]
- Cornyn, Cruz lead another GOP delegation on border tour of RGV - Brownsville Herald - October 29th, 2023 [October 29th, 2023]
- Landworkers' Alliance Report: Debt, Migration, and Exploitation - Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants - October 29th, 2023 [October 29th, 2023]
- Searching for wholeness in a nation fractured by capitalism and ... - Kansas Reflector - October 23rd, 2023 [October 23rd, 2023]
- Explainer: The State of Poverty and Slavery in Ecuador - JURIST - October 23rd, 2023 [October 23rd, 2023]
- That AI You're Using Was Trained By Slave Labor, Basically - Futurism - October 23rd, 2023 [October 23rd, 2023]
- Bibb Announces Ten Winners of $5000 Restaurant Grants to ... - Cleveland Scene - October 23rd, 2023 [October 23rd, 2023]
- Sugarcane Burning Is a Plague on These Black Floridians Mother ... - Mother Jones - October 23rd, 2023 [October 23rd, 2023]
- 18 of the Most Haunted Places in Alabama - AZ Animals - October 23rd, 2023 [October 23rd, 2023]
- Immigration Health Surcharge: equality impact assessment 2023 ... - GOV.UK - October 23rd, 2023 [October 23rd, 2023]
- Books The common cause - Morning Star Online - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Search warrants executed in alleged human trafficking and slavery ... - ACT Policing News - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Modern slavery and human trafficking: identifying and reporting ... - GOV.UK - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Report: Government needs better policies to help narrow economic equity gap - Yahoo News - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- New Zealand criminal investigation into systemic migrant worker ... - WSWS - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- What back to school means in the era of PragerU - Reckon - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- The Jacksonville Shooting and the Far Right - Left Voice - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Build support for today's union struggles The Militant - The Militant - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Work requirements wont affect the debt ceiling but they will stir up ... - The Boston Globe - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Ten Percent of North Koreans Forced To Work as Slaves: New Report - The New York Sun - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Anti-Slavery Commissioner visits the Coffs Coast - News Of The Area - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Former Server Says Customers Should Tip If They Ask Questions - The Daily Dot - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- New exhibition looks at the UK's role in indenture labour - ianVisits - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- UNITED WE STAND: THE FIERCE URGENCY OF NOW - Savannah Tribune - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- No, MLK Was Not a Christian Nationalist - Word and Way - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Fact check: Tipping began amid slavery, then helped keep former Black ... - December 28th, 2022 [December 28th, 2022]
- Slavery - Wikipedia - December 28th, 2022 [December 28th, 2022]
- Social class - Wikipedia - December 23rd, 2022 [December 23rd, 2022]
- Author Ibram X. Kendi speaks in Portland on legacy of slavery and the tipped wage - Press Herald - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- As a Nation, We are Doomed to Fail if the 'Original Sin' of the Past is not Reconciled in the Present - CT Examiner - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Lincolnshire car wash owners handed 10-year slavery order - Lincolnshire Live - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- "Under The Banner of King Death" puts pirates in their place in the history of workers' rights - Boing Boing - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Forrest Hylton | To the Lighthouse LRB 18 October 2022 - London Review of Books - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Aussie Brands Among Most Improved in 2022's Ethical Fashion Report But There's Still a Long Way To Go - Broadsheet - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- DC voter guide: 2022 election what you need to know - WTOP - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Exploring the Fault Lines in Mental Health Discourse: An Interview with Psychologist Justin Karter - Mad in America - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Iran: 'Society has risen to overthrow the Islamic Republic' - Green Left - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Slavery by any name is wrong: the push to end forced labor in prisons - The Guardian US - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Visions of Progress tells tales of two Charlottesvilles, Black and white - Bristol Herald Courier - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Miss Malini's job advert puts spotlight back on 'exploitative bosses' and a 'pittance' as salary - Moneycontrol - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- As Hurricane Ian Threatens Florida's Southwest Coast, What's Happening On The Ground - KPCC - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Truths about student debt, college costs, and corporate freeloading on the backs of students. - Daily Kos - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- The Kohinoor, Cullinan and the enduring demand for reparations across the colonial world - The Indian Express - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Divine Politik: The rise of robots should be the downfall of capitalism The Daily Free Press - Daily Free Press - September 14th, 2022 [September 14th, 2022]
- Stop romanticizing the lives of 1950s housewives - Halifax Examiner - September 14th, 2022 [September 14th, 2022]
- Domestic workers, long excluded from labor protections, call for codified rights - The 19th* - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Pierre Poilievre Claims He's a Friend of the 'Working Class'. He's Spent Years Attacking Canadian Workers. - PressProgress - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Stockard on the Stump: Governor declares he didn't violate the Little Hatch Act Tennessee Lookout - Tennessee Lookout - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- How Central American immigrants played a vital role in the U.S. labor - Fast Company - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- The unity imperative: Lessons for building the anti-fascist alliance - People's World - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- How FrontLine Farming Is Using Land to Grow Food and Heal Generational Trauma - 5280 | The Denver Magazine - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Queen Elizabeth II Reigned For 70 Years: Here Are The 10 Longest-Reigning Kings And Queens Of The UK - Forbes - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Ballot initiatives to watch in 2022 midterms, from abortion to slavery - USA TODAY - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- 10 Songs That Deal with Labor Rights and Hating Your Job - MetalSucks - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- Conflict and modern slavery: the investment perspective - Schroders - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- The Santa Cruz County boom town that went BOOM - The Mercury News - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- This Labor Day, buy produce grown only on farms that respect workers rights - The Hill - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- The unity imperative: Lessons for building the anti-fascist alliance - Communist Party USA - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- Agency visits US to share efforts to end fisher abuse - - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- High income tax in PNG is a disincentive - POST-COURIER - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- For women of color in care work, racial and economic inequities abound, report shows - The Boston Globe - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- Opinion | Behind the Rise in Union SupportAnd the Challenge Ahead - Common Dreams - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- Slavery and Trafficking Risk Order imposed on Lincolnshire car wash owners - Forecourt Trader - August 23rd, 2022 [August 23rd, 2022]
- Opinion | The Tide Is Turning: US Congress Finally Considers a National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights - Common Dreams - August 23rd, 2022 [August 23rd, 2022]
- Edited Transcript of ADH.AX earnings conference call or presentation 22-Aug-22 1:30am GMT - Yahoo Finance - August 23rd, 2022 [August 23rd, 2022]
- Conservatives Explain Why They Are Preparing For A Civil War - The Onion - August 23rd, 2022 [August 23rd, 2022]
- 10 Black Millionaires Who Got Busted By The IRS For Failure To Pay Taxes - Moguldom - August 23rd, 2022 [August 23rd, 2022]
- 34 Great Records You May Have Missed: Spring/Summer 2022 - Pitchfork - August 23rd, 2022 [August 23rd, 2022]
- Amazon Hit by Strikes Across the Globe - Novara Media - August 23rd, 2022 [August 23rd, 2022]
- The Past, Present, and Future of Work - YES! Magazine - August 23rd, 2022 [August 23rd, 2022]
- National Trust members: get ready to choke on your carrot cake - The Guardian - August 23rd, 2022 [August 23rd, 2022]
- Lost Yet Connected in Time: Brown, Peltier, Melaku-Bello, Abu-Jamal, and Assange - LA Progressive - August 23rd, 2022 [August 23rd, 2022]
- Mondelz commits to living wage for cocoa farmers and invests in education programmes for children - ConfectioneryNews.com - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Opinion | The Supreme Court Has Too Much Power and Liberals Are to Blame - POLITICO - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Breaking the stranglehold of speculative property ownership | interest.co.nz - Interest.co.nz - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Why fashion should act now to legislate living wages in the supply chain - Drapers - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Georgia's six-week abortion ban goes Into effect, an attack on... - Liberation - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- 10 years on, what is the true legacy of the London 2012 Olympics? - Metro.co.uk - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Why You Should Read The Handmaid's Tale: A Timely Animated Introduction - Open Culture - July 7th, 2022 [July 7th, 2022]