Throughout April, Ballotpedia covered 4,596 elections in 21 states, 71% of which were uncontested.
That’s down from March, when 77% of the 6,995 covered were uncontested.
Ballotpedia defines an uncontested election as one where the number of candidates running is less than or equal to the number of seats up for election. This analysis does not account for write-in candidates.
In April, Ballotpedia covered the most elections in Wisconsin, where 72% of the 3,621 elections were uncontested. Ballotpedia also covered more than 100 elections in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Utah. Of those four states, Pennsylvania had the highest rate of uncontested elections, at 90%, while Oklahoma had the lowest, at 14%.
April’s rate of uncontested elections was greater than the 58% average rate identified between 2018 and 2023.
It also brings the year-to-date rate of uncontested elections to 74%.
For comparison, since 2018, each year has had more uncontested than contested elections except for one, in 2021, when 50.4% of the elections Ballotpedia covered were contested.
Click on the link below to learn more about uncontested elections nationwide last month and in all previous months through 2024.