2020 was a unique year for statewide ballot measures. Here are 12 ballot measure-related stories from 2020 that either never happened before or hadn’t happened in a very long time.

1. Ballot measure campaign finance records were set nationally and in four states: California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Alaska.
2. Gig economy policies appeared on a statewide ballot for the first time.
3. Voters passed measures to enact a legal psilocybin mushroom program and drug decriminalization for all drugs for the first time.
4. Legislators (rather than an initiative signature petition) put a marijuana legalization measure on the ballot for the first time.
5. Voters decided the first-ever ballot measure on a state-run paid sick and parental leave program.
6. A state adopted top-four primaries for the first time.
7. Voters decided a statewide measure proposing a $15 per hour minimum wage for the first time.
8. Voters, rather than legislators, decided to add their state to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
9. Statewide initiatives qualified for the ballot through electronic signature petition drives for the first time.
10. The first measure was referred to the ballot for Louisiana’s December election since at least 1974.
11. The first constitutional amendments of local applicability were put on the statewide Alabama ballot according to a 2016 process change.
12. Voters approved the first ballot initiative to reintroduce wolves.