Ballotpedia completed an inventory of all Wisconsin ballot measures since 1846, when voters decided on a ballot measure to form a state government. Wisconsin decided on 257 ballot measures between 1846 and 2024. Of these, 184 measures (71.6%) were approved, while 73 (28.4%) were defeated.

Only the Wisconsin State Legislature can place a ballot measure to amend the Wisconsin Constitution on statewide ballots via a joint resolution approved by a simple majority of each chamber during two consecutive legislative sessions. Wisconsin is one of 24 states that does not provide for statewide citizen-initiated ballot measures. In 1914, Wisconsin voters defeated an amendment that would have established the initiative and referendum process in the state. It was defeated, with 63.62% of voters opposing it. In the same election, voters also rejected an amendment to adopt the recall process for elected officials, with 63.88% of voters deciding against it. The recall process was later adopted in 1926.

Five of the 257 ballot measures were decided by less than a percentage point. The closest margin by percentage of the vote occurred in 1975 with Question 2, which was defeated by 0.03%. It would have amended the state constitution to broaden the authority under which state funds can be appropriated to improving transportation facilities. The widest margin by percentage of the vote was Proposition 1 in 1874. The constitutional amendment approved with 97.77% of the vote limited the debt of counties, cities, towns, villages, and other municipalities to 5% of taxable property value.

Wisconsin ballot measures have addressed 59 unique topics with some addressing multiple topics in one measure. Some notable topics that appeared on statewide ballots included direct democracy, suffrage, and crime victims’ rights. Between 1847 and 1865, Wisconsin voters decided on four measures to provide for African-American male suffrage. A measure was approved in 1849, but it was challenged in court because a majority of all voters in the election did not vote for it. The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the election results in 1866. In April 2020, Wisconsin was the 13th state to decide on a constitutional amendment to adopt Marsy’s Law—a set of constitutional protections for crime victims. It was approved with 74.9% of the vote.

Wisconsin ballots have featured 30 advisory questions referred to the ballot by the state legislature. The nonbinding advisory questions have addressed a variety of topics, including gambling and video poker, work requirements for state assistance, bonuses for World War I veterans, prohibition, state-owned TV stations, and nuclear weapons reduction negotiations.

The average number of measures per decade was 14. The decade with the most ballot measures was the 1960s, which featured 42 ballot measures. Thirty-three measures (78.6%) were approved, and nine (21.4%) were defeated. The decade with the highest approval rate was the 2000s, which featured six measures. All were approved. The decade with the lowest approval rating was the 1910s. The decade featured 18 ballot measures—six (33.3%) were approved, and 12 (66.7%) were defeated.

There are four different types of ballot measures in Wisconsin. Legislatively referred constitutional amendments have been the most common, appearing on the ballot 197 times. Legislatively referred state statutes had the highest success rate at the ballot box, with 80% of the 26 measures approved by voters. Constitutional convention questions had the lowest success rate, with the single measure presented to voters defeated.

The inventory of Wisconsin statewide ballot measures is part of Ballotpedia’s Historic Ballot Measure Factbook, which will document nearly 200 years of direct democracy in the United States. This ongoing research effort will provide an unparalleled resource for researchers, reporters, and the voting public on how ballot measures have evolved, the issues they’ve covered, and the role they have played in our civic life.