Since 2010, Ballotpedia has tracked signature costs for ballot initiative campaigns, and this year marks the highest average cost-per-signature recorded so far. A ballot initiative is a citizen-initiated ballot measure. Signatures are collected to place the proposals on the ballot. In 2024, the average cost-per-required-signature (CPRS) rose to $14.87, up from $12.97 in 2022 and surpassing the previous high of $14.74 in 2021. The CPRS ranged from $0 for volunteer efforts to $48.21 for Montana CI-128, an initiative to provide a state constitutional right to abortion.

In 2024, 57 citizen-initiated ballot measures were certified for the ballot. This analysis includes 53, as signature cost data was unavailable for four initiatives in South Dakota.

A total of $172.15 million was spent on signature drives for the 53 ballot initiatives in 18 states. This is the highest total amount spent on signature gathering since at least 2010.

In 2024, the average cost of a successful signature drive was $3.25 million, lower than the record-high average of $4.08 million in 2022.

The signature-gathering process varies across the 26 states that allow citizen-initiated ballot measures. Each state differs in requirements, such as the number of signatures needed, circulation period lengths, and regulations for signature gatherers. Ballotpedia uses two methods to measure the cost of a petition drive—the total cost and cost-per-required signature (CPRS).

• The total cost refers to the amount spent to gather enough signatures to qualify an initiative for the ballot.
• Thecost-per-required-signature (CPRS) is the total amount spent on gathering signatures divided by the number of signatures needed to qualify the measure. CPRS allows for comparisons of signature-gathering costs across states. For example, if a campaign spends $1 million on a petition drive in a state requiring 100,000 signatures, its CPRS would be $10, meaning $10 per required signature. If the same amount was spent but 200,000 signatures were required, the CPRS would be $5.

According to campaign finance reports through October 30, 2024, initiative campaigns received a total of $809 million in contributions. The $172 million spent by these campaigns on signature drives represents 21.3% of the total contributions.

Campaigns for five initiatives in California and two initiatives in Florida spent a combined $83.56 million on signature-gathering efforts, accounting for nearly half (48.5%) of all petition drive costs in 2024.

A total of $23.09 million was spent on signature gathering for Florida Amendment 3, a marijuana legalization initiative funded by Trulieve, making it the most expensive signature drive of 2024.

Campaigns for two initiatives, a Top-Four RCV initiative in Idaho and a Carbon Dioxide Pipeline referendum in South Dakota, used volunteers for signature gathering resulting in a total cost of $0.

Across the five election years from 2016 to 2024, there were a total of 270 initiatives on the ballot. Campaigns for these initiatives spent a cumulative $533 million on signature-gathering drives.