Campaign finance

See also:Campaign finance on the ballot

• aOregon Measure 107: Measure 107 authorizes the state legislature and local governments to (1) enact laws or ordinances limiting campaign contributions and expenditures; (2) require disclosure of contributions and expenditures; and (3) require that political advertisements identify the people or entities that paid for them. Going into the election, Oregon was one of five states with no limits on campaign contributions.

Election dates

• aNew Mexico Constitutional Amendment 2: The amendment allowed the state legislature to pass laws adjusting the election dates of state or county officeholders and adjusting office terms according to those date changes. Under the measure, laws proposing adjustments to election dates of non-statewide officeholders must be supported by a legislative finding that such a change would promote consistency or that it would evenly distribute the number of offices appearing on the ballot.

Election systems

• aAlaska Ballot Measure 2: Ballot Measure 2 replaced the state's partisan primaries with open top-four primaries for state executive, state legislative, and congressional offices and established ranked-choice voting for general elections, including the presidential election, in which voters would rank the candidates. Ballot Measure 2 also required persons and entities that contribute more than $2,000 that were themselves derived from donations, contributions, dues, or gifts to disclose the true sources, as defined in the law, of the political contributions.^[1]

• Colorado Proposition 113: In 2019, the Colorado State Legislature passed a bill to add Colorado to theNational Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC). NPVIC member states have agreed to give the state’s electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote, provided the NPVIC goes into effect. The NPVIC was designed to go into effect if states representing at least 270 electoral votes join the NPVIC.^[2] The campaign Protect Colorado's Vote filed a veto referendum to overturn the law, which resulted in Proposition 113. On November 3, voters upheld the law and voted in favor of adding Colorado to the NPVIC.

• dFlorida Amendment 3: Amendment 3 would have replaced Florida's closed primaries with top-two open primaries for elected state offices. Under Amendment 3, all candidates would have run in the same primary election. The top-two candidates, regardless of their partisan affiliation, would have moved on to the general election under Amendment 3.^[3]

• dMassachusetts Question 2: Question 2 would have enacted ranked-choice voting (RCV) for primary and general elections for state executive officials, state legislators, federal congressional representatives, and certain county offices. As of 2020, statewide elections in Massachusetts used aplurality voting system.^[4]

• aMississippi Ballot Measure 2: As of 2020, Mississippi required that a candidate for governor or elected state office receive the most votes in a majority of the state's 122 state House of Representatives districts (known as the electoral vote requirement). Ballot Measure 2 repealed this requirement. Instead, Ballot Measure 2 provided that a candidate for governor or state office must receive a majority vote to win and that a runoff election would be held between the two highest vote-getters in the event that no candidate receives a majority vote.^[5]

Redistricting

See also:Redistricting measures on the ballot

• aMissouri Amendment 3: In 2018, Missouri voters approvedAmendment 1, the Lobbying, Campaign Finance, and Redistricting Initiative, which created the nonpartisan state demographer responsible for state legislative redistricting. Amendment 3 repealed the nonpartisan state demographer and returned the state to the use of bipartisan redistricting commissions, with changes to the number and selection of commissioners. The 2020 amendment also maintained the criteria of competitiveness and partisan fairness that was enacted in 2018, but it loosened the partisan fairness requirement and required that population, voter rights abridgment, contiguous districts, simple shapes, and the rules for counties be considered with a higher priority.^[6]

• aNew Jersey Public Question 3: As of 2020, the New Jersey Constitution required the state legislative redistricting commission to pass a redistricting plan within a month of receiving the official census data. Question 3 postponed state legislative redistricting until after the election on November 2, 2021, should the state receive federal census data after February 15, 2021. The U.S. Census Bureau asked Congress to extend the deadline to deliver census data from April 1, 2021, to July 31, 2021, due to delays related to the coronavirus pandemic.^[7][8]

• aVirginia Question 1: Question 1 transferred the power to draw the state's congressional and legislative districts from the state legislature to a redistricting commission composed of state legislators and citizens. Going into 2020, theVirginia General Assembly was responsible for drawing the state'scongressional andstate legislative district boundaries. The redistricting plans were passed as legislation and subject to thegovernor's veto power.^[9]

Suffrage

See also:Suffrage on the ballot

• aAlabama Amendment 1: Amendment 1 amended theAlabama Constitution to state that "only a citizen of the United States," rather than "every citizen of the United States," who is 18 years old or older has the right to vote in Alabama.

• aCalifornia Proposition 17: Proposition 17 amended the state constitution to allow people with felonies who are on parole to vote; therefore, the ballot measure kept imprisonment as a disqualification for voting but removed parole status. Going into 2020, the California Constitution disqualified people with felonies from voting until the completion of their imprisonment and parole.

• dCalifornia Proposition 18: Proposition 18 would have allowed 17-year-olds who will be 18 at the time of the next general election to vote in primary elections and special elections.

• aColorado Amendment 76: Amendment 76 amended the Colorado Constitution to state that “only a citizen”, instead of "every citizen", of the U.S. who is 18 years of age or older can vote in Colorado. Under the Colorado Votes Act, which went into effect in August 2019, individuals who are 17 years of age at the time of a primary election but who will be 18 years of age at the time of a general election were allowed to register to vote and vote in the primary election. According to the Colorado Blue Book, prevents 17-year-olds from voting.

• aFlorida Amendment 1: Amendment 1 amended the Florida Constitution to state that “only a citizen” of the U.S. who is 18 years old or older can vote in Florida instead of saying that "every citizen" of the U.S. who is 18 years old or older can vote in Florida.

Term limits and term lengths

See also:Term limits on the ballot

• aArkansas Issue 2: Issue 2 changed term limits of state legislators to twelve consecutive years with the opportunity to return after a four-year break. The 12-year limit applied to anyone elected in 2021 or after. Going into 2020, Arkansas legislators could serve up to 16 years throughout their lifetimes in the House or Senate.^[10]

• dKentucky Constitutional Amendment 2: The amendment would have increased the office terms of commonwealth's attorneys from six years to eight years starting in 2030; increased the office terms of district judges from four years to eight years starting in 2022; and changed attorney licensing requirements for district judges from two years to eight years beginning in 2022.^[11]

• dMissouri Amendment 1: Amendment 1 would have limited the lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state auditor, and attorney general to two terms of office in a lifetime. Going into 2020, the state constitution limited the governor and state treasurer to two terms of office in a lifetime but not the other executive offices.^[12]

Income Tax

• aArizona Proposition 208: The Invest in Education campaign proposed the ballot initiative to enact a 3.50% income tax, in addition to the existing income tax (4.50% in 2020), on income above $250,000 (single filing) or $500,000 (joint filing). Proposition 208 was designed to distribute the revenue from the 3.50% income tax to teacher and classroom support staff salaries, retention programs, and career and technical education programs.^[13]

• aColorado Proposition 116: In 1987, the state's income tax was changed from graduated rates to a flat rate. The ballot initiative reduced the rate from 4.63% to 4.55%.^[14]

• dIllinois Allow for Graduated Income Tax Amendment: TheIllinois State Legislature proposed the constitutional amendment to allow the state to enact legislation for a graduated income tax. As of 2020, the state constitution required that the state personal income tax be a flat rate.^[15] Gov.J.B. Pritzker (D), who advocated for a graduated income tax during his gubernatorial campaign, provided most of the funds to the campaign backing the amendment. Ken Griffin, the founder and CEO of Citadel, provided most of the opposition funds. Together, the support and opposition campaigns have raised over $120 million—just over $60 million each.^[16]

Business-Related Taxes

• dAlaska Ballot Measure 1: The campaign Vote Yes for Alaska's Fair Share proposed the ballot initiative to increase taxes on oil production fields located in Alaska's North Slope that exceeded certain output minimums.^[17] According to Robin Brena, chairperson of Vote Yes for Alaska's Fair Share, three oil production fields—Alpine, Kuparuk, and Prudhoe Bay—met those criteria.^[18] BP, Conoco Phillips, ExxonMobil, and Hilcorp Energy funded the campaign to defeat Measure 1.^[19]

• aNebraska Initiative 431: The initiative imposed an annual tax of 20% on gross gambling revenue of licensed gaming operators; distributing 2.5% of tax revenue to the Compulsive Gamblers Assistance Fund, 2.5% to the General Fund, 70% to the Property Tax Credit Cash Fund, and 25% to the counties where gambling is authorized at licensed racetracks. The initiative was one of three initiatives that togetherauthorized,regulated, and taxed gambling at racetracks in Nebraska.^[20]

Property-Related Taxes

• dCalifornia Proposition 15: The ballot initiative would have amended Proposition 13, which required that residential, commercial, and industrial properties are taxed based on their purchase price, with an annual adjustment based on inflation or 2%, whichever was lower. Proposition 15 would have required commercial and industrial properties, except those zoned as commercial agriculture, to be taxed based on their market value. In California, the proposal to assess taxes on commercial and industrial properties at market value, while continuing to assess taxes on residential properties based on the purchase price, is known as split roll.^[21] The state fiscal analyst estimated that Proposition 15 would have generated between $6.5 billion and $11.5 billion. Proposition 15 would have required that the revenue be allocated to local governments and schools.^[22]

• aCalifornia Proposition 19: The state Legislature proposed the constitutional amendment as a compromise with the California Association of Realtors, which had qualified a differentballot initiative. Proposition 19 allowed tax assessments to be transferred from someone's old home to their new home anywhere in the state and increased the number of times that tax assessments can be transferred from one to three for persons over 55 years old or with severe disabilities. Proposition 19 was also designed to require that inherited homes that are not used as principal residences, such as second homes or rentals, be reassessed at market value when transferred.^[23]

• aColorado Amendment B: The constitutional amendment repealed theGallagher Amendment (1982), which required a 45%-55% ratio between residential assessment rates and non-residential assessment rates regarding tax revenue. Therefore, Amendment B permitted the Colorado State Legislature to define tax assessment limits without reference to the 45%-55% ratio requirement.^[24]

In Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Virginia, voters also decided seven ballot measures related to exemptions, adjustments, and payments, includingFlorida Amendment 5,Florida Amendment 6,Louisiana Amendment 2,Louisiana Amendment 5,Louisiana Amendment 6,New Jersey Question 2, andVirginia Question 2.

Sales Tax

• aArkansas Issue 1: The ballot measure continued an existing 0.5% sales tax, with revenue dedicated to roads, highways, and bridges, that would otherwise have expired in 2023.^[25] Issue 1 had the support of Gov.Asa Hutchinson (R), and the campaign behind Issue 1 received financial support from Alice and Jim Walton.^[26][27]

Tobacco

• aColorado Proposition EE: The ballot measure increased the tax rate on cigarettes from 84 cents per pack to $2.64 per pack and the tax rate on tobacco products from 40% of the manufacturer's list price to 62% of the manufacturer's list price. The ballot measure also created a tax on nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes, designed to increase over seven years to 62% of the manufacturer's list price. Revenue from the tax increases was dedicated to preschool, education, housing, and the General Fund.^[28]

• aOregon Measure 108: The ballot measure increased the cigarette tax from $1.33 to $3.33 per pack. The ballot measure also authorized a tax on e-cigarettes and other nicotine inhalants at a rate of 65% of the wholesale sales price and on cigars at 65% of the wholesale sales price (but not to exceed $1.00 per cigar). Revenue from the tax increases was dedicated to the Oregon Health Authority.^[29]

Fees

• Colorado Proposition 117: In 1992, the Colorado Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) Amendment defined government-owned firms that provide goods or services for a fee asenterprises. Examples of enterprises include state nursing homes, state lotteries, Colorado Correctional Industries, and College Assist. The ballot measure would require voter approval of laws that create new enterprises should the enterprise's project or actual revenue from fees and surcharges exceed $100 million within the firm's first five years.^[30]

TIF

• aNebraska Amendment 2: The constitutional amendment increased the repayment period for tax increment financing from 15 to 20 years for areas where more than one-half of properties are designed as extremely blighted.^[31]