Ballot measure campaign contributions top $1.1 billion this year, cost-per-required-signature hits record high


Welcome to the Friday, Nov. 1, Brew. 

By: Mercedes Yanora and Samuel Wonacott

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

  1. Ballot measure campaign contributions top $1.1 billion this year, cost-per-required-signature hits record high
  2. Wrapping up our 50 states in 25 days coverage—New Hampshire and Oklahoma 
  3. Did you know that voters decided 28 statewide ballot measures related to the minimum wage between 1996 and 2023? 

Ballot measure campaign contributions top $1.1 billion this year, cost-per-required-signature hits record high

As of Oct. 30, individuals and groups have contributed $1.12 billion to support or oppose this year’s 159 statewide ballot measures. In 2022, campaigns for and against 140 statewide measures raised $1.1 billion. 

Separately, campaigns spent $172.15 million on signature drives for 53 citizen initiatives in 18 states, including 52 that voters will decide on Nov. 5. This is the most ever spent on signature gathering and an increase of approximately 120% since 2016, when the cumulative cost was $78 million. On average, the total signature drive cost increased approximately 23% in each even-year election from 2016 to 2024.

Below, we’ll cover contributions by topic, measure, state, and cost per signature.

Spending on abortion, drug use policies, and ranked-choice voting

This year’s ballot measure address issues like abortion, ranked-choice voting, and drug-use policies

There are 11 abortion-related measures on the ballot Nov. 5. Seven percent of measures (11 of 159) address abortion. But 22.5% of all contributions ($252.5 million) went to campaigns support or opposing abortion measures. Florida Amendment 4 is the most expensive abortion-related ballot measure in history, having raised $120.9 million. Supporters raised $110.0 million and opponents raise $11.0 million. Amendment 4 tops last year’s Ohio Issue 1, which provided for a state constitutional right to abortion. Supporters and opponents raised $89.9 million in that election. The second most expensive abortion-related measure this year is Arizona Proposition 139 at $36.4 million between both sides. Click here to see campaign finance data for abortion-related measures this year. 

Three percent of this year’s ballot measures (five measures) relate to drug use policies, either marijuana or psychedelic substances. Those proposals account for 14.0% of ballot measure contributions. Florida Amendment 3, which would legalize marijuana. Campaigns supporting Amendment 3 have raised $121.7 million, while those opposing it have raised $23.9 million. Before Florida Amendment 3, the most expensive marijuana legalization measure was California Proposition 64 in 2016, in which supporters and opponents raised a combined  $27.1 million. The second most expensive drug use measure this year is Massachusetts Question 4, which would legalize psychedelic substances and services. Supporters and opponents have raised a combined $7.5 million. Click here to see campaign finance data on all marijuana legalization initiatives since 2010.

Six percent of measures address electoral systems (10 measures) like ranked-choice voting and top-two or top-four primaries. These measures account for 7.8% of ballot measure contributions. The most expensive is Nevada Question 3, which would implement top-five primaries and ranked-choice voting for general elections. Supporters have raised $19.9 million and opponents have raised $2.1 million. The second most expensive is Arizona Proposition 140, which would replace partisan primaries with a new system, like top-two or top-four primaries, and could require ranked-choice voting for general elections. Supporters of the measure raised $15.9 million and opponents raised $150,000. Click here to see campaign finance data for election system-related measures this year. 

Measures with the most contributions

As of Oct. 30, the most expensive ballot measure election is California Proposition 33, which would permit local governments to implement rent control policies. Opponents and supporters of the measure have raised a combined $171.1 million.

The ten most expensive ballot measure elections are listed below:

Contributions by state

The five states with the most contributions are:

  1. California, where the 11 measures have raised $372.5 million or 33.2% of the nationwide total.
  2. Florida, where the six measures have raised $261.3 million or 23.3% of the total.
  3. Missouri, where the eight measures have raised $97.6 million or 8.7% of the total.
  4. Arizona, where the 13 measures have raised $52.7 million or 4.7% of the total.
  5. Ohio, where one measure has raised $45.3 million or 4.0% of the total.

In 2022, the top three states were California (65.8%), Michigan (9.3%), and Massachusetts (6.5%). In 2020, the top three states were California (61.6%), Illinois (10.0%), and Massachusetts (5.0%). 

The chart below compares total contributions for general election cycles from 2018 through 2024, along with the amount associated with campaigns in California:

Cost-per-required-signature

Now let’s look at which states had the highest and lowest cost-per-required-signature (CPRS). Campaigns must collect a certain number of signatures to place a measure on the ballot, and many use petition drive companies to help them do so.

To learn more about how we calculate CPRS, click here.

The average CPRS in 2024 was $14.87, 115% more than the five-year average for even-year elections since 2016. This year, CPRS ranged from $0 for volunteer efforts (in Idaho and South Dakota) to $48.21 for Montana CI-128, an initiative to create a right to abortion.

The average cost of a successful signature drive this year was $3.25 million, less than the $4.08 million spent on average for 30 initiatives in 2022.

According to campaign finance reports through Oct. 29, initiative campaigns raised $809 million. The campaigns spent $172 million on signature drives, representing 21.3% of the total money raised.

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 this year.

A total of $23.09 million was spent on signature gathering for Florida Amendment 3, making it the most expensive signature drive in history.

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 last five even election years, 270 initiatives were on the ballot. Campaigns for these initiatives spent a cumulative $533 million on signature-gathering drives.

To dive deeper into ballot measure campaign finance, click below.

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Wrapping up our 50 states in 25 days coverage – New Hampshire and Oklahoma  

With the election on Tuesday, it’s time to conclude our 50 states in 25 days coverage by looking at what’s on the ballot in New Hampshire and Oklahoma. Yesterday, we gave our readers a sample of what to expect in Alabama and Delaware. If you missed your state, click here to see all of the previous writeups.

New Hampshire

Let’s start with a look at some key dates and deadlines in New Hampshire.

  • The deadline for registering in person is Nov. 5.  
  • In New Hampshire, polling place hours of operation vary. According to state law, polling places must be open between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Localities may set their own polling hours as long as they are open during those hours prescribed by state law. To search for the hours your polling place is open, click here. Everyone who is in line when the polls close must be allowed to vote. Voters can find polling locations here.

What’s on the ballot?

  • New Hampshire voters will elect two U.S. Representatives. Voters will also elect a new governor.
  • All 24 seats in the state Senate are up for election. Four of those seats are open. All 400 seats in the state House are up for election. Ninety-two of those seats are open.
  • New Hampshire is also holding an election for all five seats on the New Hampshire Executive Council
  • There is one statewide ballot measure on the ballot.

Oklahoma 

Next is Oklahoma. 

  • The deadline for registering in person, by mail, or online was Oct. 11. Early voting began Oct. 30 and ends on Nov. 2.   
  • All polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central Time. Everyone who is in line when the polls close must be allowed to vote. Voters can find polling locations here.

What’s on the ballot?

  • Oklahoma voters will elect five U.S. Representatives.
  • There is one state executive office up for election: corporation commissioner.
  • All 101 seats in the state House and 24 of 48 seats in the state Senate, plus two districts up for special election, are on the ballot. There are 14 open seats in the House and eight in the Senate.
  • Three of the nine justices on the Oklahoma Supreme Court and three of the five justices on the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals are up for retention election. Oklahoma is one of two states with two courts of last resort. As of 2024, Texas is the only other state with this system.
  • Six seats on the Oklahoma Court of Appeals are up for retention election.
  • Municipal elections will be held in Tulsa (runoff) for mayor and city council and in Canadian County, Cleveland County, Oklahoma County, and Tulsa County for clerk, sheriff, county commission, and court clerk.
  • Oklahoma is one of 26 states where we are expanding our local election coverage beyond the nation’s biggest cities, school districts, and state capitals. Including those mentioned above, Ballotpedia is covering 70 candidates in 33 races for offices such as local councils and other county-level positions. Most Oklahoma municipal elections took place earlier this year.
  • Voters will decide on two statewide ballot measures.

Want to learn more about the elections you’ll be voting in this year? Click here to use our Sample Ballot Lookup tool!

The information above is just a small snippet of the detailed information on Ballotpedia for each state. You can check out our deep dive into New Hampshire’s 2024 elections here and Oklahoma’s 2024 elections here.

Keep reading 

Did you know that school board candidates run in nonpartisan elections in 41 states

However, in four states—Alabama, Connecticut, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania—candidates run in partisan elections. In five other states—Rhode Island, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia—the law allows for both partisan and nonpartisan school board elections.

On Nov. 5, voters in Florida will decide Amendment 1, which would make school board elections partisan beginning in 2026. Read more about the debate over Amendment 1 here
Click here to learn more about laws governing party labels in school board elections.