Welcome to the Friday, Feb. 7, Brew.
By: Briana Ryan
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Nine states will have new signature requirements for citizen initiatives in 2025
- Twenty-four percent of January’s elections were uncontested
- Did you know Nevada is the only state where citizen-initiated constitutional amendments must be approved twice?
Nine states will have new signature requirements for citizen initiatives in 2025
The number of valid signatures required to place a citizen initiative on the ballot in nine states will change in 2025. That’s because the 26 states that allow for some form of statewide initiative or referendum base their signature requirements on another number.
The reasons for the changes in signature requirements in 2025 are as follows:
- Seven states had to change their signature requirements due to voter turnout in the Nov. 5 general elections.
- Two states needed to change their requirements due to a change in the number of registered voters.
The average change in signature requirements in those nine states was 12.5%, the smallest increase since we started collecting this data in 2018. The chart below shows the average change in signature requirements since then.
Here are some noteworthy changes:
- Wyoming had the largest percentage increase (+36.8%) in the number of signatures required to get on the ballot. In 2022, the state had the largest percentage decrease (-28.8%) in the number of signatures needed to get on the ballot.
- Washington had the largest decrease (-4.8%) in the number of valid signatures required.
- New Mexico had the largest increase in the number of valid signatures required, with the requirement for veto referendums increasing from 71,475 to 92,829. That’s an increase of 21,354 valid signatures.
- Florida had the largest decrease in the number of valid signatures required, with the requirement for initiated constitutional amendments decreasing from 891,523 to 871,500. That’s a decrease of 20,023 valid signatures.
Now, let’s look closer at why those nine states needed to change their signature requirements.
Four states base their signature requirements on the number of ballots cast in a presidential or presidential-year gubernatorial election.
Four states base their signature requirements on the number of ballots cast in a general election, both presidential and midterm election years. Nevada was the only one of the four states that did not need to change its signature requirement. That’s because Nevada’s signature requirement is based on the last gubernatorial general election, which was in 2022.
Four states base their signature requirements on the state’s population or the number of registered or active voters. Two of those states did not need to change their signature requirements for the following reasons:
- Nebraska’s signature requirement is based on the number of registered voters when signatures are submitted.
- North Dakota’s signature requirement is based on the decennial census.
In addition to the three states mentioned above, 13 states also did not need to change their signature requirements. That’s because theirs are based on the number of votes cast in the midterm election for their respective governors or other executive offices.
Click on the link below for more information on signature requirements in 2025.
Twenty-four percent of January’s elections were uncontested
Each month, we publish an article detailing the number and percentage of uncontested races in the previous month. We define an uncontested election as one where the number of candidates on the ballot is less than or equal to the number of seats up for election. Candidates running in uncontested elections are usually guaranteed to win. You can see our December writeup, which summarized 2024, here.
Throughout January, we followed 25 elections in seven states, 24% of which were uncontested. That’s down from December when 44% of the 123 elections we covered were uncontested.
The current rate of 24% uncontested elections is the second lowest we have found at this point in the year since we started collecting this data in 2018. The lowest rate of uncontested elections was in 2021, at 14%. The highest rate at this point in the year was 71% in 2018.
The most elections we followed in January were in South Carolina, where three of ten (30%) were uncontested. Legislative races were the most common type we covered, and two of 11 (15%) were uncontested.
Click on the link below to learn more about uncontested elections nationwide last month and in all previous months through 2025.
Did you know Nevada is the only state where citizen-initiated constitutional amendments must be approved twice?
Nevada voters must approve those amendments in two successive general elections. The requirement came about in 1962 when voters approved Question 2. Since then, voters have approved 19 initiated constitutional amendments at least once. Excluding Question 6 and Question 7 from 2024, which must be approved again in 2026, voters approved 13 of 17 (76.5%) and rejected four (23.5%) during the second vote.
In the 25 other states with statewide citizen initiatives, voters need only approve measures once to take effect.
Although Nevada is the only state with a two-session requirement for citizen-initiated constitutional amendments, several states require lawmakers to approve legislatively-referred constitutional amendments twice. Those states are Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. In Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, lawmakers can refer constitutional amendments to the ballot during either one or two sessions, depending on the vote size and other factors.
Learn more about two-session requirements for ballot measures here.