30 states have adopted English as an official language—11 through ballot measures—since 1920

By

Briana Ryan

Welcome to the Wednesday, March 5, Brew. 

By: Briana Ryan

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. 30 states have adopted English as an official language—11 through ballot measures—since 1920
  2. Twenty-three years ago today, San Francisco voters enacted ranked-choice voting
  3. President Donald Trump has issued the most executive orders of any president in this century

30 states have adopted English as an official language—11 through ballot measures—since 1920

On March 1, President Donald Trump (R) issued an executive order “[designating] English as the official language of the United States.” While the federal government had never established an official national language before, 30 states have designated English as their official language.

Three of the 30 states—Alaska, Hawaii, and South Dakota—also recognize some Indigenous languages as co-official languages. 

In the 2024 presidential election, Kamala Harris (D) won six of those 30 states, and Trump won 23. Nebraska was split, with Trump winning four of the state’s electoral votes and Harris winning one.

Over the decades, members of Congress have proposed laws and constitutional amendments, but none gained much traction. Meanwhile, states had more success, particularly through ballot measures.

Of the 30 states that designated English as their official language, 11 did so through ballot measures. Those states include Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Utah, and Arizona, which did so twice. The average vote on these measures was 73.1%, with support ranging from 50.5% to 88.5%.

Nebraska was the first state to adopt an official language measure. In 1920, voters approved Amendment 3, designating English as Nebraska’s official language and requiring public school teachers to teach subjects in English.

Oklahoma is the most recent state to vote on a measure, with voters approving State Question 751 in 2010. The measure declared English the “common and unifying language of the State of Oklahoma” and required all official state actions to be in English, with exceptions.

The measure that voters approved by the highest margin was Alabama Amendment 1, which earned 88.5% of the vote in 1990. Amendment 1 established English as the state’s official language, prohibited laws that diminish or ignore “the role of English as the common language of the state of Alabama,” and granted residents standing to sue the state for enforcement.

The measure that voters approved by the narrowest margin was Arizona Proposition 106, which earned 50.5% of the vote in 1988. Proposition 106 designated English as the state’s official language and required governmental actions, functions, and documents to be in English, with exceptions. In Ruiz v. Hull, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that Proposition 106 was unconstitutional.

In 2006, the Arizona Legislature put a constitutional amendment, Proposition 103, on the ballot. Proposition 103 also designated English as the state’s official language. However, while Proposition 106 required governmental actions, functions, and documents to be in English, Proposition 103 required government representatives to protect and promote English in official functions while allowing unofficial multilingual communication. Voters approved Proposition 106 with 74.0% of the vote.

While the ballot measures each sought to designate English as an official state language, the measures differed in application and enforcement.

Here are brief samples of arguments that supporters used for English language measures:

  • California Proposition 63 (1986): Former U.S. Sen. Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa (R-Calif.) said there is a “serious erosion of English as our common bond” due to language conflicts. 
  • Arizona Proposition 103 (2006): State Rep. Russell Pearce (R) said, “a common language promotes unity and understanding and is as vital to the health of a nation as having a common currency.” 
  • Alaska Measure 6 (1998): Former Attorney General Edgar Paul Boyko said English, like national symbols, “reminds Americans and Alaskans of every race, religion, and background of what we all have in common.”

Here are brief samples of arguments that opponents of English language measures used:

  • California Proposition 63 (1986): Attorney General John Van De Kamp (D) said the policy “will produce a nightmare of expensive litigation and needless resentment.” 
  • Arizona Proposition 103 (2006): State Sen. Jorge Luis Garcia (D) and State Rep. Ben Miranda (D) said, “Since there is not a rational basis to make English Arizona’s ‘official’ language, we are left to conclude that Proposition 103 is directed at Spanish speakers. Proposition 103 is a measure that is steeped in hate.” 
  • Alaska Measure 6 (1998): Executive director of the ACLU of Alaska Jennifer Rudinger said the law “merely fosters divisiveness by saying to our indigenous and non-English speaking residents that they are not accepted in Alaska.”

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Twenty-three years ago today, San Francisco voters enacted ranked-choice voting

On this date in 2002, San Francisco, California voters approved Proposition A, which enacted a system of ranked-choice voting (RCV) for city officials. The vote was 55.48% to 44.52%.

RCV is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots. There are multiple forms of RCV. Between 1965 and 2024, 74 RCV local ballot measures were on the ballot in 58 jurisdictions in 19 states.

  • Seventy-one of those measures sought to adopt RCV. Voters approved 56 (78.9%) and rejected 15 (21.1%).
  • Eight of those measures sought to repeal RCV. Voters approved four (50%) and rejected four (50%).
  • The year with the most local RCV ballot measures was 2022 when nine were on the ballot in nine jurisdictions. Voters approved seven of them.
  • The state with the most local ballot measures related to RCV is California, where there have been 13.

At least eight cities will use RCV for municipal elections in 2025—one of them is Oakland, California, which is across the bay from San Francisco.

Looking at the state level, as of March 4, lawmakers have introduced 72 bills related to RCV this year. OF those bills, 34 would allow RCV, 10 would require RCV for some elections, 19 would ban RCV for all elections, and three would repeal the use of RCV. The chart below shows the number of RCV-related bills introduced in state legislatures since 2022.

Our coverage of this measure is part of our Historic Ballot Measures project (HBM), which will document nearly 200 years of direct democracy in the U.S. 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.

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President Donald Trump has issued the most executive orders of any president in this century

During his first and second terms, President Donald Trump (R) issued 301 executive orders, more than any other president in the 21st century.

In his second term in office, Trump has issued 81 executive orders, more than the previous four presidents did at this point in their first term.

Trump has issued the 15th-most executive orders among all U.S. presidents, with 301 orders across his two terms in office. Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) issued the most of any U.S. president, with 3,721 executive orders during his time in office. William Henry Harrison (Whig) issued none during his one month in office. Three presidents issued only one executive order each: James Madison (Democratic-Republican), James Monroe (Democratic-Republican), and John Adams (Federalist). 

To read more about executive orders in the second Trump administration, click here.
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