In 2024, voters in 35 states decided on 96 constitutional amendments, approving 60 (63%) and rejecting 36 (38%). The approval rate was the lowest since 2005, when voters approved 14 (54%) of the 26 amendments appearing on statewide ballots.
From 2003 through 2024, odd-year election cycles featured a higher average approval rate for proposed constitutional amendments than even years. In 2007, 28 of the 31 proposed amendments were approved for a rate of 90%. In 2017, all 17 amendments on the ballot were approved, for the highest approval rate since 1947. Only one of the proposed amendments was put on the ballot through a citizen initiative petition. In contrast, 2006 and 2022, the even-numbered years with the highest approval rates, had rates of 74.5% and 73.8%, respectively.
Of the 2024 constitutional amendments, 73 were referred to the ballot by state legislatures, and 23 were put on the ballot through citizen initiative petitions. The approval rate for referred amendments was 68%, and the approval rate for initiated amendments was 43%.
In 2024, 14 of the 96 constitutional amendments concerned constitutional rights either amending a state constitution’s Bill of Rights, often codified as Article I, or adding explicit statements about rights to other sections of a state’s constitution. Ten amendments addressed rights related to abortion. Voters approved seven of them in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New York, and Nevada. Voters rejected three in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota. One, in Nebraska, to limit the timeframe for when an abortion can be performed, was approved.
California voters approved an amendment to repeal Proposition 8 (2008), which defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman, and declared that a “right to marry is a fundamental right” in the California Constitution.
Colorado voters defeated an amendment that would have provided each K-12 child has the right to school choice. The vote margin was 49% in favor to 51% against. It needed a 55% supermajority vote to pass. Colorado voters approved an amendment to remove the right to bail in cases of first-degree murder when the proof is evident or the presumption is great. It was approved with 68% of the vote.
Floridians approved an amendment to become the 24th state to provide for a constitutional right to hunt and fish. It was adopted with 67% of the vote.
This analysis is part of Ballotpedia’s year-end analysis of statewide ballot measures. To read more about the types of measures, approval rates, campaign finance data, and historical context of statewide ballot measures in 2024, click here.
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